Rod Liddle attacks “pretend disabled” in Sun column

Is Rod Liddle’s column in today’s Sun the most disgusting attack on disabled people yet? Here are some choice quotes:

“My New Year’s resolution for 2012 was to become disabled. Nothing too serious, maybe just a bit of a bad back or one of those newly invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades – fibromyalgia, or M.E.”

“And being disabled is incredibly fashionable. The number of people who claim to be disabled has doubled in the past ten years.”

“I think we should all pretend to be disabled for a month or so, claim benefits and hope this persuades the authorities to sort out the mess.”

“It has become easier to claim those benefits, partly as a consequence of the disablement charities who, out of their own self-interest, insist that an ever-greater proportion of the population is disabled.”

Mindblowing.

[update id=”me-association” time=”12:32″ text=”Dr Charles Shepherd, the medical spokesperson for the ME Association, said: “This is a disgusting and inaccurate attack on people with M.E. Rod Liddle should get his facts right. The condition is recognised by the World Health Organisation after first being described in the Lancet in 1955.””]

350 comments on “Rod Liddle attacks “pretend disabled” in Sun column”

Robsays:

He goes on to say “When you suggest this is a public scandal, the disabled charities get very cross and accuse you of victimising the infirm. But I’m not. I’m victimising the people who are pretending to be infirm … the people fraudulently claiming sickness benefit are doing a disservice to those who really deserve it: The people who are truly disabled or ill”.

True, but reducing fibromyalgia and M.E. to “newly invented illnesses that make you a bit peaky for decades” IS victimising the infirm. That’s like saying someone in a wheelchair isn’t disabled as they can still do sit-down work.

Petesays:

Josiesays:

As someone who’s lived with M.E. for 7 years, this article disgusts me. I have no idea how someone can be that small-minded, that ignorant, that far up his own a***. I hope he has to live with a serious chronic illness one day. There is absolutely nothing easy or fun about it. I would give all the disability benefits in the world not to have this illness.

b) You can’t neuter disagreement by effectively saying “people are going to be angry at this”.

c) He’s claimed that a serious chronic illness that causes a lot of suffering is “one of those newly invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades”. That is blatant and disgusting prejudice and victimisation.

Rosssays:

What an utter u-bend of a man he is .. the Tory party mustkeep these unpleasant little fucktrolls in a cupboard during the opposition years then let them out to feed when they have an easy target to vilify.

Jean Eveleighsays:

1) a reason for the increase in disability clamant numbers over the last 10 years is the numbers of service personnel injured/disabled in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who due to modern medical techneques survived not only the initial blast but the subsequant field hospitals, tarnsfers and then treatment in the UK.

2) having a chroinic illness is not a luxury and just because it has only been recently isolated and names does not mean it didn’t exist before being found – no dieseae or illness is ever invented they are discovered through the hard work of genetisists, biologists and the like.

3) I welcome his wish to pretend to be disabled for a month or sop he can come and live with me and try to get through a month in the levels of pain, on the levels of morphine I take, I’ll tie him into a wheelchair so he has to get around London getting on and off the bus, train and tube, getting in and out of shops, trying to get noticed to get serves in pubs, cafes etc – being treated as if his brain is somehow disabled just because his legs arn’t fully functional and then see what his subsiquent report is like.

I would be more than happy to swap my life for a month with the writer of this ignorant ill-informed piece of literature. I have had CFS now for over five years and hate the way it rules not only my life, but the lives of my family especially the impact it has on my children. There are days when I can’t wash or dress myself, can’t walk to the bathrooom so have to crawl, need my daugher to help me wash/brush/dry my hair, need my son to help me with food shopping etc etc. I’m a 44 year old married woman who has worked full-time from the age of 16 when I left school. If the CFS merely left me feeling a ‘little peaky’ I can assure you I’d be back at work and living a full and enjoyable life.

Erm, isn’t he attacking those fraudsters who are not disabled, but who pretend to be for financial reward.

Why does the disabled lobby identify itself with fraudsters who abuse the system in their name.

Pretending that there are no fraudsters and that anyone who claims to be disabled is, merely by asserting that they are, is stupid. Treating any attack on those abusing the system as an attack on the disabled is stupid.

Support the genuinely disabled, attack the fraudsters, I see nothing wrong with that at all.

DuncanBsays:

I’m really beyond anger at this. Well imagine that – ten years being ill. Obviously if your legs haven’t grown back or your autism hasn’t been ‘cured’ or your depression hasn’t lifted after ten years you obviously aren’t ill. Your only imagining that you are ill. Liddle seems to have a problem with the idea that there are actual illnesses that have no cure. There are chronic conditions that either science has no cure for or can at best only alleviate. There are lots of illness that are not cured by a Lemsip. To say that ‘there’s to many of them’ as Liddle says is just ridiculous. Who is he to say who is ill and who is not? And obviously a blue badge is really much like a AMEX platinum card but much, much better. With a blue badge you the get added bonus of total strangers accusing you of not really being disabled because you can walk the few yards to your car. Obviously the opinion of your GP or your consultant or the DWP count for nothing compared to a ten second visual examination in supermarket car park.

jennifer jacksonsays:

I’m fortunate to have only mild M.E. (for the last five years or more) which enables me to go to school for about four hours a week at the moment. I’ve never claimed (or tried to claim) a penny from the government and hopefully I will never have to. How would this Mr Liddle explain the thousands of people in a similar situation to me? I get no benefit out of being ill. No one does. I’m isolated by it, i’ve lost all my friends because of it, have to do an extra two years at secondary school, might not be able to go to university (for a long time at least), can’t play sport which used to be a massive part of my life, and it’s helped me develop other problems like anxiety. He thinks i want any of this? I’ve gained nothing. M.E. doesn’t get you attention, it isolates and makes you feel unnoticed. It doesn’t get you sympathy, it gets you people (teachers, family, even doctors) telling you that you’re a liar (especially before diagnosis, which took two years for me), as demonstrated yet again by Liddle. It’s horrible, and i wouldn’t wish it on anyone, even Liddle. It’s bad enough without newspapers publishing these kind of vile lies.

Jamessays:

Ashsays:

As a man who’s lived with M.E. and Fibromyalgia for 5 years, I really don’t give a toss about this article. Rod Liddle is paid to piss people off. He’s not the only one in the media (TV and radio included) and the “disgusted of Tunbridge Wells” reaction is exactly what he’s after. If you believe that these are his actual views, and more importantly that somehow his writing is going to promote an orgy of kicking the disabled out of their wheelchairs then you need your head examined.

The first rule of the internet also applies to the dinosaur media – “Don’t feed the trolls”.

babyjaynesays:

I would like to know how fraudsters actually get disability benefits. My partner has Prostate Cancer that has moved to other parts of his body and Angina. We applied 3 times before we could claim DLA.

We had to have proof from his doctor, consultant and x-rays confirming his disabilities. And this took over 5 years.

Before these indiots at The Sun criticise they should try getting these benefits themselves, and try living on them.

And remember this Hard to explain to someone who has no clue. It’s a daily struggle being in pain or feeling sick on the inside while you look fine on the outside. (PTSD, Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression, Diabetes, LUPUS, Fibromyalgia,TM, MS, ME, HS, Arthritis, Celiac, Cancer, Heart Disease, Epilepsy, Autism,M.D. etc.) ” Never judge what you don’t understand,

Davesays:

When you describe ME as a “newly invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades” you kinda lose the right to play the “I’m just sticking up for the genuinely disabled, honest!” card. It’s a shame people like Rob and Murray can’t see that articles like this are unhelpful and hurtful.

I’m surprised Liddle’s argument that a million people being on ‘invalidity benefit’ for more than a decade is a ‘public scandal’ wasn’t noted. An invalid is ‘one who is incapacitated by a chronic illness or disability’ – perhaps Liddle really is so out of touch that he imagines these conditions just go away, over time? For a very few lucky people they do, certainly… but sadly not for the vast majority.

sarahsays:

as a sufferer of m.e for the past 6yrs, i cried reading this article. i would love to work, have a social life, have friends and workmates again. what an ignorant small minded man, how would he like it if he couldnt get out of bed just when he wants to, maybe someone should tie him to a bed and only let him up when someones ready to get him up, only aloud out when someone can take him out, theres only one word for this man and thats PRICK.

FuriousMEandFibroSufsays:

HOW DARE HE??? i am literally speechless at how he can make out these are not crippling illnesses. Ive recently had diagnosis of both M.E and Fibromyalgia and im telling you this, feeling a bit ‘peaky’ does not cover it. I wish he could walk in my shoes and feel what i feel and be at the point where he actually wants to die just to get away from feeling so ill. To be at the point where he cant look after his children properly anymore and social services are sticking their noses where they are not wanted as because i have this diagnosis ‘im a bad mother’…………By the way i dont even claim disibility benefits even tho i have the right too so he can stick that up his arse!!!!!!!!!!

GavStevenssays:

What a C U Nxt Tuesday! He doesnt have a bloody clue, i hope one day he gets a serious illness and people treat him with the same contempt that he has shown to thousands suffering in silence. I see the suffering of my wife day in and day out and see how brave these M.E and Fibro sufferers are. They are an inspiration to us all!

Murray Rothbard: “Erm, isn’t he attacking those fraudsters who are not disabled, but who pretend to be for financial reward.”

And very nicely setting up genuinely disabled people – who are more numerous by far (doctors aren’t idiots) – as targets for those who will assume they’re playing the system because the disability isn’t immediately obvious?

Disability benefit is so stingy that you’d have to be really stupid/desperate to learn to fake well enough to obtain it.

pozsays:

What this Muppet seems to have missed is the fact that the majority of sufferers of the two illnesses mentioned here – fibro and m.e- are refused benefits and have the most crucifying financial problems due to the discrimination from society. There is a lack of basic healthcare from the government and NHS and this needs stopped now. Over 250,000 people suffer m.e in the uk alone- are they all faking it? I don’t think so!!!!!!!!

Ben_W_CFNsays:

It makes me angry. My mum has a bad leg from a serious accident. While she can walk unaided, the law entitles to her to a Parking badge thingy, because for her to walk to the other end of a car park with shopping is too much. She hasnt cheated the system, in fact the ‘system’ informed her she was entitled to disability support. Yet it is people like my mum who are being attacked for taking liberties. She’s even had to put with her fair share of verbal abuse and dirty looks. We’re a working family and it makes me so angry that the system makes her life that little bit easier based on a real and serious condition and we’re made to feel guilty, because she isn’t a complete cripple.

I think he’s bordering on a hate campaign with the view of causing a group of the members of the public unnecessary hurt and upset. I don’t know why he hasn’t been arrested. If he were to write such a hate crime regarding race and sexual orientation he would have been arrested by now. Maybe we should report him for such an awful hate campaign against a group in society

Richievillasays:

My physical disability (muscle wastage) is obvious, so even by bigoted Liddle’s standards I am really deserving. Do I begrudge people with ME, Fibromyalgia etc their benefits? Certainly not as I am not a bigoted, ignorant, vindictive piece of scum, as Liddle clearly is. If a medical expert says someone has ME, Fibromyalgia then that is good enough for me, and to any reasonable person. Liddle is a liar as well as a bigot…still peddling the 80% fit for work figure. The actual figure in the DWP report is 56%…people in the WRAG are still unfit for work! Even the 56% has to be taken with extreme caution given the obvious flaws in the tick box assessment. How sad that we have hate-stirring scum like Liddle…the truth is, Liddle, you are already disabled….morally disabled!

Da' Vanesays:

Rod, like all others, is showing significant ignorance about disability, incapacity, the welfare benefits systems, and the ways the employment market works. Like the government, they assume it is a quick fix because they take their health for granted.

Here are a few points that people forget:

Many people who are disabled are fit for work – and want to work – but lack the support to get there. People in a wheelchair are fit for sit down work, but require significant support in terms of accessibility to make that happen. This means it costs money for employers to hire them and provide the support to make them productive, and they simply won’t do that when there is a more able worker available that costs less and doesn’t require the support to work.

Incapacity Benefit and Disability Living Allowance are two different benefits that serve two different purposes. Because of ignorance about the issues of disability, this is confused in society, and it is believed that they serve the same purpose, and that one automatically means you get the other. This is NOT the case. You can qualify for one without the other, because of the way they are measured. This means that you may be incapable of working without being disabled, or that you may be disabled while still being able to work.

The government routinely focuses on the wrong group when “solving” the problem, because the government fails to understand that since this is a free market economy, with social security support, that we exist in markets for thinks like housing and jobs. This means the positions are NOT controlled by government, but by employers, who use capitalist methods to determine the most viable candidates. Disabled people, and those coming off of incapacity, are having to compete with young people, newly qualified people, immigrants, the recently unemployed, and those who are seeking a change in career, to get any position they can get. Positive discrimination for disabled and incapacitated people only guarantees an interview, but does not actually guarantee employment at all, particularly when there may be the requirement of support as mentioned above to enable disabled and incapacitated people to work.

Finally, and this is the most important thing, many disabled and incapacitated people do contribute to society, even if they are not directly working. They are often volunteers, or they assist other people and their families, without which, their ability to contribute effectively would be greatly diminished.

It is clear that the arguments and agendas put forth by Rod, and by the government are pushed by those who have little real experience with disabled people, and I wonder if they have any experience with people at all. They certainly do not value them as human beings. Like everyone with such views, they are keen to fight for their own rights, but don’t respect the rights of others.

fibro sufferersays:

I am one off those Fibromyalgia sufferer’s Rod Liddle Take a good long read off the following. and then make your comment you ignorant S***. once you have read it them make your comment. This is what i along with others out there suffer from fibromyalgia it’s not funny.

This is why i am looking & feeling s**t its not because i want too rip-off the government or sit on my a*** while other’s go out to work. My Fibromyalgia problem’s are as follow’s.

Reproductive Fibromyalgia Symptoms Menstrual problems – Did suffer with Endrometriosis and ended in full Hysterectomy, and removal remaining ovary after a cyst formed. PMS (as an overlapping condition)

K30says:

So, life expectancy increases and the government put in place increases in State pension age to reflect this – but they fail to see that people living longer + natural increases in population + an aging population = understandably more disabled people.

We diagnose conditions more accurately than ever now, and are able to keep people alive, albeit with some effect on their health, where we previously couldn’t.

As for ill-health benefits being easy to claim – they’re really not. And no, I don’t claim anything (I’m lucky to be in good health) but I do know that it’s not the walk in the park it used to be ten years ago. And no, I’m not a Tory supporter either – just saying what I see.

anne jamessays:

As someone who has severe ME/CFS as well as other illnesses I am disgusted by his comments, it is a very real illness but am sick of trying to make these people with no clue realise this, we obviously haven’t moved on from the days of “yuppie flu” I would love to be able to lead a normal life going out to work and being sociable instead of the solitaryconfinement and unable to converse, getting benefits is not easy, you need proof from specialists, nurses and gp’s etc, yes some people cheat the system and claim fraudently but IMO there is much more fraud going on with expenses and tax cheats within the Government than anywhere else and involve a lot more money, ignorance prevails and we are left with shoddier and shoddier services and cutbacks

Maggiesays:

My 23 year old daughter has ME. She manages to hold down a full-time job despite almost daily headaches, sore throats, aching muscles, and constant debilitating tiredness. She spends her weekends recovering from the working week and is often too tired to socialise, go shopping and other such things that young girls usually do. And if she does actually manage to do anything ‘normal’ she often takes several days to recover. I wish I could have the illness in her place as it is heartbreaking to see a young person struggling everyday and being physically unable to enjoy what should be some of the best years of their life.

Rod Liddle is an absolute disgrace. He has glibly written, with such obvious contempt, about an illness that he clearly knows nothing about. I hope, for his sake, that neither he, or someone close to him, is never diagnosed with it.

Anonymoussays:

Perhaps some of you ought to stop ranting and fuming and try to understand what Rob Liddle is actually saying. I was castigated the other day for telling people that I can think of at least six people who I know personally that claim benefits because they are ‘disabled’ could come off benefits and go into work, or onto unemployment benefit, but they choose not to because they’re in their comfort zones! Two of them with their ‘depression’ that doesn’t really exist, the ‘sciatica’ that doesn’t render them incapable of work, or the ‘in recovery’ ex heroin user who hasn’t used nine years, but still thinks he should be ‘on the sick’, and the recovered alcoholic who has, well, erm, recovered!!!

Jules Youngsays:

I am absolutely appauled by your ME/Fibromyalgia comment…….. karma…… I wouldn’t wish ME or Fibro on my worst enemy, however, due to the lack of research, resulting in no real understanding of the illness, it is only a matter of time until innocent people are struck down with it….. The government seem to think that banning us from donating blood will do the trick, but it is already in the blood supplies, without fully understanding how and if the ‘virus’? can be transmitted, it cannot be prevented from spreading….. I wonder if Rod Liddle might join our cause for more understanding, research, treatment, or if he might remain the ignorant little (I wouldn’t call him a man) person that he is; until that is, he or someone he cares about ‘CATCHES’ this disease which wrecks lives!!!! “invented disease”……. pah…… just cos you can’t SEE it, doesn’t mean it isn’t real……. Thank you to all of you who have challenged his thoughtless comments, I love the fact that I am not alone in this fight…..

PS: if you are on facebook, like the Doctor Christian page…… he is looking to put together a documentary to educate the small minded members of our community as to what ME is and how it affects our lives….. I rather think he will is a tad more educated to make comments about our illness than this pathetic excuse for a ‘journalist’…. don’t make me laugh!!!!!!!!!!!!

fibro sufferer janesays:

Lindsaysays:

Excuse my language but….what a fucking, fascist, unintelligent piece of lazy, lying shit. The article is full of other peoples, mainly government ministers, misleading and untrue statistics, media quotes from the last few weeks and propaganda in general designed to make it all more acceptable to bully and harass those with disabilities, as well as a really skewered and false view of how ‘easy’ it is to be disabled and claim benefits. And for those of you that read filth like this and believe every word instead of finding out for yourself? You’re even worse for being a bunch of sheep standing by while the truly disadvantaged in our ‘society’ continue to be shat on from a great height. I hope you never have to find out the hard way. No, actually I do, if it’s the only way to stop you supporting these psychos.

Ah, Rod Liddle, maybe poor Mr.Liddle has a serious medical condition we don’t know about, he seems to be spouting his usual rubbish and bigoted views and opinions, easy to make fun of a part of society that has seen an increase in physical attacks over the last couple of years, Mr.Liddle must be so proud of himself?

Fibromyalgia/ME/CFS none of these medical conditions are made up, they are REAL conditions affecting thousands of people all over the world, because of the worlds financial problems world governments and some corrupt medical so called experts are trying to make these problems a “Mental Health” problem, it’s all in the mind is a phrase I have heard before, well Mr.liddle, I doubt you have to take thirty odd pain killers each and everyday, I doubt you have to have daily suppositories administered by your wife to aleviate the painful constipation all the pain killers give you, you have never spent long periods in a wheelchair because your legs give way due to pain and muscle wastage, you are a comp[lete joke Mr.Liddle, an embarrassment to your profession, what next for disabled people Mr.Liddle? Maybe you think all disabled people should be put in to a Eugenics programme just like the one the present coalition government are trying to implement, you know Mr.Liddle, the WCA assessment process carried out by the French company Atos, the great disability deniers, have you thought of applying for a job there???

Timsays:

so wait… isn’t this just pointing out there are dishonest people in this world?

But he is a total idiot for saying what he did. M.E can be terrible but i do believe people would act up on it as there is not a clear test for it yet but ME is recognised as a neurological illness by

I understand the point he is making and it is a fair one, lets not forget he is talking about people stealing from the system by lying for financial gain… hmm a bit like a CEO of a bank, but the way he chooses his words is ridicules and shows him to be a total fool, yes only the ‘comic’ sun would print this!

sandrasays:

I am shocked this has been printed, i am a suffer off fibromyalgia it is a living hell to be in apin 24 x7 , All i can say what goes round come round, and what you put out you get back ten times fold, so i feel sorry for him and what comes back to him ten times fold!!

Bluewavesays:

What a grossly ignorant and uninformed article. I have M.E , my symptoms are not vague and present physical symptoms which the author of this purilent piece of manure would not be able to fake to anyone in the medical profession.

Deborah Strangesays:

I hope I never meet this person, as being as person with fibro I can say, its the most painfull thing ever….I would like him to have it for a week so I can have a break from this pain, you stupid f**king idiot…..

amsays:

This left me shaking. I knew someone with M.E and I remember how devastating it was. She was in pain, all the time, could barely eat. It had affected her whole life. She was very clever and so nice but had had to pretty much give up school at 13 as she just wasn’t well enough to go. Everytime she managed to get well and strong for a short while she would try and pick up her education again but it would return and she would be back where she started, only more and more frustrated each time. It was so cruel. It’s an illness that devastates families, the round the clock care some people will need because of it is such a strain and it has lead to more than one suicide and assisted suicides. It’s an illness so awful that a parent can be willing to help their child die rather than continue to watch them suffer. How can anyone be so cruel as to mock that?

M.S.says:

As an ME & Fibro sufferer for 18 years,i was horrified to read this article. Rod Liddle is saying that fraudsters use these illness’s to gain benefits.ME is a serious ,painful,distressing illness.It has taken away my quality of life in every possible way.My husband has to care for me.I use pain patches to help control the pain,plus other pain relief yet the pain is still there 24 x 7,year in,year out. Also like having a bad dose of Flu all the time,feeling so ill. I would gladly swop lives for 6 months with Rod,think he would see things rather differently then ! No social life,scrimping by on benefits,needing to wear dark glasses daily to help control the pain and light sensitivity – yes life sure is easy having ME !! This type of bad press is uncalled for and disgusting. Just because the cause of the illness is unknow,the treatment for it is zero.It is pure ignorance to bad mouth ME/Fibro.The man should be ashamed of himself.

Leanne Szymanskasays:

I am a long term sufferer of Fibromyalgia and I did work. I also then ended up incredibley ill, in a wheelchair/crutches. I couldn’t wash myself properly, do my hair etc and I am in constant pain, constantly exhausred and constantly depressed. It is a VERY real condition. Ignorant Morons like Mr Liddle have put back our fight for recognision. I spent many years searching for a diagnosis so I could learn to deal with my condition not so I could claim sickness. Not knowing whether you are gonna be able to move each day and how much medication it is gonna take for your limbs to stop jerking/spasming/shaking painfully. PLease do your research, visit fibro/ME/CFS groups and suffers and see how much fun and how fashionable it is. I would be glad to show him.

John Ruddysays:

This is going to sound really harsh, but I think its going to take soemone like Rod Liddle, Jeremey Clarkson, KelvinMcKenzie or Richard Littlejohn getting one of these types of disabilities themselves before they finally realise they’ve been worng all this time.

It might take ALL of them some kind of disability. Prefrably one which prevents them from writing their right-wing crap.

The article clearly makes up medical opinions that the Journalist is not qualified to make. They are then presented as fact. This creates support and justification for discrimination and encourages harassment.

The article goes beyond the hurly burly of political life to target people with protected characteristics under the Equalities Act 2010. A Press Complaint Commission complaint is, in my view, the least serious remedy. The man should be prosecuted under the Equalities Act to the full force of the law. First step should be complain to the PCC. Second should be to draw attention to it at the Leveson Enquiry. generalenquiries @levesoninquiry.org.uk Quite clearly the man thinks he can incite lawbreaking with impunity because he is a “Sun Reporter”.

This kind of behaviour is not new. The idea that he can talk nonsense, make a noncomittal apology and then do it again is exactly the kind of behaviour that Leveson should be interested in. Now that the Journalists are wary of hacking the rich and famous, they seem to be changing target to avoid censure and that is a part of their unremittingly bad behaviour.

lynda sarringtonsays:

This article is typical of somone, who hasn’t a clue. I woulsd like him to suffer with fibromyalgia, and live on the money i recieve, only he wouldn’t be able to. I do not get disability, only income support,which is not enough to manage on. I would like to see him suffer, in the way i do.

Annie Weatherly-Bartonsays:

What else can you expect from a washed up, waste of space ignoramus like him? Typical right wing rubbish. Just trying to wind up & further damage those who are too sick to shout back. Trouble is, stupid people like him have a platform given to him to spout his ignorant rantings; A privilege that very sick do not have! Utterly appalling, un-scientific rambling from a man not worth listening to.

Rosannasays:

As a young woman who has lost most of her teenage years and early twenties to this condition I am appalled at these comments. I was popular at school, high flying and clearly have a lot more going for me than Rod Liddle, as I am now a successful model and completing my masters and have contributed far more to society via charity work and caring than he ever will even though I am only 24. What on earth does he think I, or any other ME sufferer, would stand to gain by making up a mystery illness, through which I incurred a massive loss of earnings through modelling jobs I couldn’t do, alongside friends, opportunities and a social life? I know someone who had it that was tube fed and nearly died from kidney failure…I suppose they were just fiddling the system too/fancied a nice break from being a fantastic dancer and highly capable student? I hope one day that natural selection will filter out such idiots from society.

This man is ridiculous. He’s writing something deliberately provocative and then, when people get provoked, he claims that proves his point. This is just Orwellian. People like this need to be called out on their bullshit shenanigans. I wouldn’t wish disability on anyone, and yet his ‘article’ opens with a throwaway comment of such staggering insensitivity that I cannot believe it isn’t some sick joke. This is what the right does. It pretends to know about the lives of ‘paupers’, in this case the sick. It extrapolates their experience from the point of view of it’s own and comes up very wide of the mark. If only these inept bedraggled shmucks would get off their arses, they’d be better for it. After all, that’s what we did in the war, daddy. I even heard that fairytale peddler Anne Atkins on ‘thought for the day’ this morning saying the same thing: god invented us to work and work is intrinsically good for us.

Debbie Sayerssays:

Fibromyalgia is a recognised condition, Scientific research has proven significant changes in the central nervous systems of sufferers, having chronic widespread pain is a little more than feeling peaky! I have had Fibro for 16yrs and I work both employed and self employed how many jobs do you have? You think you are being clever but all you are doing is wiping up a hornets nest, we will not be swept in to the background, thank you for waking up thousands who are so sick that until now they have had little voice because they are in so much pain… but no longer!

Twatslayersays:

There once was a tool called Rod Liddle Who didn’t have much length with to fiddle Apart from writing dubious piddle He likes to punch pregnant girls in the middle

What an odious bore he is. I’d love to swap lives with him (apart from the bit about punching pregnant people in the guts) and see how he likes living with Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, IBS, insomnia, bladder pain, asthma, underactive thyroid, yadda yadda yadda.

Obviously intelligent people will see Liddle’s article for the filth it is, but the people who read The Sun will probably fall for it hook, line and sinker.

Gillian givansays:

Deary deary me what a complete and utter tit he should be locked up, we are fighting every day to be pain free by al means have my day and just see how he feels ideot. He’s probably just put us back months of trying to get theses conditions noticed he disgusts me.

Melanie Wsays:

Im utterly astonisI know a few people with ME/Fibro/Cfs. /Autism.etc etc.. I work for a well known charity and see first hand how disability affects the lives of those who for no reason of their own have been dealt this devastating blow to there health. I also have the above conditions. Fibromyalgia. Cfs. along side Arthritis. i am by no means a liar i have medical proof. i have had blood tests. Mri scans , xrays. these things do not lie. Doctors and medical professionals , do not lie. I have never claimed benefits and i hope i never have to as i have seen how hard the mirage of forms and information has been made into a minefield. survive the minefield and you can get an extra £30 a week.. oh wow lets all do that shall we. and lets all go an live the life of luxury our normal middle class workers can afford// utter bullshit. Taking a mixture of medications just to give you enough energy to do a 8 hour shift at work 7 different medications to be correct. and thats just to get to work,, dont forget the journey home and trying to run a home and a family, taking another 7 medications just to get to 6 hours of broken unrestfull sleep.. oh an like the poor gent above..using supposatories on a weekly basis because the pain meds cause severe constipation… i wish i could stick my life up his bloody arse….. i would not be able to walk or care for myself or others if i didnt take these pills… im hanging on a limb here. trying to work to keep my house from being repossesed…Like i said,, with i could stick a pill up his stupid arse….well done for causing such an outrageous story.. and THE SUN , should be ashamed..

Jillsays:

You clearly need to get your facts right Mr Liddle before slandering sick and disabled people. To add to you limited information, Fibromyalgia and Me are not new found illness or disabilites. Both yourself and Atos need to go and research both these chronic illness in depth before making totally stupid and irrelevant assumptions that we are scroungers who are bleeding this goverment. I am outraged that The Sun has allowed your stupidity to be put into print. I would give anything to be a normal healthy person who could live a normal healthy life and work. I,m a sufferer of both these disabilities and believe me it is not a life, it’s a battle for survival on the pittance we get. For 1 week I would like to see you live in my shoes, I bet you would’nt survive, your a disgrace.

Hayleysays:

I have both Bipolar and Fibro, and ecause of my bipolar meds and asthma theres not much they can do about my fibro other than a few, not very effective painkillers. i struggle to walk somedays, let alone do sports, which used to be a big part of my life. i would happily do anyhting not to have these disabilities, but i do. im 27 and i use a walking stick. its embarressing. and people assume because im quite young that im putting it on or they pitty me. does this sorry excuse of a human being truely believe i would choose to live like this?!

but then it is an article from The Sun, the scumbag paper who brought you all the sesitive reporting of the hilsborough disaster, and is not in any way linked to a paper who has been shut down due to phone hacking at all are they???

Little Miss Cornishsays:

What do you know about Fibromyalgia? It is not nice; in fact it is a vile and nasty silent illness that few understand – even those unlucky people who are suffering. A myriad of symptoms, pain, tiredness, migraine, bowel and bladder problems, vision and eye issues as well as muscular skeletal problems and chronic fatigue to name just some. People who do not understand (most)… think that sufferers are a mixture of the mad/bad and lazy – not true and guess what – a little bit of swimming and a positive mental attitude does not cure it either. I continue to work, do not claim benefits and each day mourn my lost life, my plans and ambitions all out of the window, I can ever plan to do anything and can only look forward to getting worse. You should be ashamed of your ignorant and bigoted attitude – so, you think you know more than the medical profession? Next time you are poorly – you wont need to see a Dr then will you? Mr Expert – you can heal yourself.

Lottesays:

I have ME. I work part-time – yes, Rod, some of us do have jobs! – spend way too much time sleeping or stuck in front of the computer cos I’m too tired to do much else, and when I do go out I feel like shit. Doing too much exercise has a bad effect on me. I am in constant pain due to achy joints. My memory has gone to shit. Basic things like doing household tasks and washing my hair are a massive strain. I worked for Oxfam at festivals for years, and I can’t do it anymore because a festival would wipe me out. Hell, I’m still recovering from Christmas.

One of my best friends has ME and was way worse than me – she was so ill she couldn’t even feed herself at one point. She missed out on schooling for years because of it. She was 13 when she became ill. She’s 27 now.

Typical Tory scum, attacking people who can’t fight back. You’re not being edgy or controversial attacking people with ME, Rod, you’re just perpetuating the same stigma that took my friend ages to get a diagnosis and the treatment she needed.

jane bergrensays:

and,i do want to say my heart goes out to all of us who suffer from these “invisible” illnesses.i too have suffered terribly most of my life with major,profound depression.the amount of money i get each month on disability wouldn’t be worth “making up” this illness~~it’s so bad NO amount of money would be worth it.what an ass.i hope he,or someone he loves,has to experience what we do.

I read this with ‘interest’ that slowly became anger, then fury. I’m 27 and I was diagnosed with Fibromyagia and Hypermobility Syndrom a few years ago, then arthritis last year. First off, I work full time and I claim no benefits, nor have I ever tried to with regards to my health. It is my personal choice to find ways to cope, but knowing people that haven’t been able to find methods to help them deal with these heinous conditions I am nothing short of enraged that this has been given a national platform. Even with me working full time, I STILL face scrutiny and questioning along with the whole ‘but you don’t look sick’ and ‘just get some sleep’ – THIS kind of attitude is what makes the entire matter worse. Of course I know there are benefit frauds, but deal with them in an attack that doesn’t further make pariahs of those suffering with a GENUINE illness that already receives a disgusting amount of dismissal from the general public as a whole. I would be more than happy to offload my pain onto him if he thinks it’ll help him appear more fashionable.

Anna Binkssays:

I am a women who has had this new invented illnesse for over 20 years. To say that it is a pretend illness is above and beyond a joke ~He wants to spend a week in my body and tell me i’m pretending what a pratt does he know anything about Fibromyalgia i gess not find out before you put something in the paper that you know nothing about. It makes me so bloodly angry as if it is’nt hard enough to get help wit money without a pratt like rod liddle

Owensays:

debbie wildsays:

No surprise here that The Sun has allowed such rubbish to be printed!!! I myself suffer from Fibromyalgia and due to limited mobility I also have one of those “sort after” Blue Badges, does this complete moron realise this is not a career choice we have made, I was a reasonably healthy person until this cruel disease struck but now i struggle on a daily basis and I for one would much rather be able to go out to work instead of living in constant pain…..your ignorance amazes me just be careful what you wish for you sad excuse of a human being.

John oneillsays:

You mate…..are a CUNT!!!! I personally don’t have fibromyalgia but my girlfriend dirs(full time working pharmacist) who pushes herself everyday through this terrible ILLNESS!! Your a disgrace to your profession and if this is what freedom of speech and the right to free press produces then maybe it’s time for a change. P.s……your a CUNT!!!

Chris Gallaghersays:

I reckon if this to**er keeps this up I will reapply for my HGV license cos I’m cured according to him, and again carry my load of nuclear waste or Submarine launched Cruise missiles into the heart of Wapping and show the twat just how accurately I could ram it up his arse.

But of course I wont because before I got there I would have killed more people than Dr Shipman and I would hate to give him the chance to rant on about why the sick and invalids are allowed to work in environments that make life dangerous for others.

How often do you see in the Sun the story of the horrendous car crash that was caused by fatigue or the elderly gent that cant drive properly any more? Does this idiot really think that he could work with and rely on someone like that?

He also considers the doubling of disability claimants with out noticing that we now have 800,000 people affected by one disease alone….. Dementia. At the risk of annoying you guys, his thinking is as demented as my mothers.

Not sure how a “newly-invented” illness can be known to cause problems “for decades” – surely it’s not new (whether invented or discovered) if it’s been causing problems “for decades”.

But Liddle is writing for a paper that makes money out of exploiting the misery of others. I wouldn’t expect the paper to actually care to check his “facts” because they never do, especially if the claims are vague enough to not single any one person out. They can’t exactly get sued then, so they just let it go into print.

The Sun newspaper is, and always has been, scum. People buy it for its bingo and soft porn and because it’s always got some made-up story in it that they can gossip about to their mates at work.

Liddle and his editor want this sort of outrage. It sells papers – unless people offended by it start putting their foot down and boycotting it.

That’s what the people of Liverpool did in 1989 and almost 23 years later it’s hard to get hold of a copy of it in the city. People around the country, often with no affiliation to the football side or city, have seen the reasons for that boycott and have joined in with it.

Don’t Buy The Sun.

Laurasays:

I get the outstrage, I do. BUT I also know somebody who is the epitome of what Ron talks about. She is the biggest liar around….pretending that she has M.E, manic depression and all sorts. AS IF you pretend to have those. It does not make you look brave or courageous for “battling on with your life and refusing to be controlled by your ‘illnesses'” – it just makes you look sad and pathetic and stark raving bonkers. And YOU are the reason people who are properly ill with the aforementioned conditions get ridiculed and told they are lazy/making it up when they ACTUALLY cannot get out of the house or even out of bed some days. You are a waste of oxygen. Grrr.

She has nothing wrong with her except laz-itis. She has 3 kids which she openly admits to being too much work and palms them off on her in laws on a daily basis. Yet she ‘courageously manages’ to go camping, for day trips with her friends, travels up and down the country to hippy festivals and events, visiting friends. Oh and of COURSE she doesn’t work and claims over £600 a month in benefits, yet she openly proclaims she never intends working for anybody else ever again as she hates it. She does occasional work frmo home herself, as a spiritual healer. She has a much better life than I do, and I work full time. It makes me SICK as I have friends who are ACTUALLY ill and SEROUSLY affected by these illnesses…who used to live an active life but have been housebound for years and often confined to a wheelchair.

Would this be the same Ron Liddle who has probably already broken the law regarding the Stephem Lawrence case? No stranger to hate crime accusations then. Perhaps he is attempting to become an equal opportunities source of hatred. Probably has something to hide and compensates with a river of bile.

Carole Hallsays:

Rob Liddle you can have my pain and exhaustion, you can live on my benifits, you can cry into your pillow at night as I do, you can loose friends and family because you no longer can socialize, you can then write an article saying how easy it is, and how it makes you feel a bit peaky, and what a wonderful life your having on benefits, until then what your saying is hurtful, untrue and degrading to many sufferes as myself, I wouldnt wish this on my own worse enermy, no not even YOU

johnsays:

The problem with the hard working tax payers such as this bigot rob liddle. Is that they have been Braine-washed by this poverty pimping government into branding all sick and disabled people as benefit cheats and scum this is no more than inciting disability hatred. For your information all unemployment benefit is a taxable income, and so I many other benefits. My be these hard working tax payers should be put in the same category as the rest of us disable people. Why should someone that is fortunate to have a job be entitled to benefits, such as working tax credit, child tax credit yes so if you rod liddle get one of these benefits you are a benefit cheating scum. No your scum full-stop. From a well-wisher

Perhaps someone should politely point out to Rod “I’ve got half an active brain cell working at the moment” Liddle that according to an official government estimate only 0.5% of the disabled population claiming disability benefits are swinging the lead..

larkinsays:

You stupid little twit, I wouldn’t wish FM on my worst enemy,but I would love this so called d##k head to have it for just an hour,then lets see him say it’s made up,OMG I would give all I have to be back to how I was three years ago,you have know idea what people with ME/FM have to go through every day,Its time you bloody so called MPs got in the real world, you make me sick,you don’t know what’s round the corner,let’s hope know one in you family have to deal with one of these condition’s with you to look after them.Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I have suffered with fibromyalgia,carpel tunnel and underavtive thyroid for 9 years now and with all of us we go through physical pain every day along with other effects of the condition and to let rod know we don’t all get any help at all with how we are as the drs diagnose the illness but can’t give you anything that will make you feel human just pills that make you more of a zombie than ever he should of looked at facts before saying such nonsence the goverment are already targeting people on dissability that are not true to themselfs or others but there is so many out there that will be taken of it and put through so much stress because they are ill with these illnessses and no one can help or understand , i would not wish this on my worst enemy but him i do as then he can see it is not a pretend illness and then he can see how hard it is to get help .

Bekweysays:

So this sick little man is at it again? He has done this before as “Dr” Liddle in another place! I would hazard a guess that someone has upset him in the past, someone suffering from ME or Fibromyalgia and turned his mind, or maybe his grudge is fuelled by other things?! Perhaps in the light of his now non-existant career on TV he has nothing else to do!

Anonymoussays:

Anonymoussays:

I think Liddle started out with a good point here, viz. too many people claiming benefits fraudulently. It’s a pity he threw in the unnecessary references to ME and fibromyalgia, and the insulting remark about charities working out of ‘self-interest’.

Anyone who’s had the pleasure of working around people who apply for benefits will know that there’s an awful lot of greedy scum out there, and an awful lot of genuine cases too. And in the middle, an awful lot of people who, for one reason or another, can’t admit to themselves that they are able to work after all. I think the point Liddle is trying, and failing, to make is that we need a better system for recognising who fits into what category.

InBitssays:

Because i’ve read this, i’m now crying!!! Ho dare he create a hate campaign specifically aimed at ME and FM sufferers? Legally he is not allowed to do this and yet his publisher has allowed it to go to print! Shame on you both! I am employed as a police officer and for the last 4 years have suffered from severe ME. I can assure you, that after travelling over 7000 miles to get help, to enable me to recover and go back to work I have failed. ME has ruined my life and there is NOTHING to gain from having such a hated, miss understood chronic illness. To go from having a wonderful, fullfilling, energetic and rewarding life and career, to being confined to a room or house for the rest on one’s life, please tell me how ANYONE, ignorant or not will come to the conclusion that this is what people want!! I will never buy the Sun newspaper again!! I think you are disgusting!!!

Julia Whiteleggsays:

This piece of scum needs to spend a day or two with either illness. I was diagnosed in 2004, but had symptoms for around 10 years previous to this. I have Fibromyalgia and osteo arthritis in my spine, sciatica too! But I do not moan or complain or even PRETEND to be in pain, I AM IN PAIN !!! I know there are people out there a lot worse than me and others that are no where as bad as me, but who am I to judge them?

Jadesays:

I’m horrified and disgusted by these irresponsible comments! I’ve suffered with Fibromyalgia for over 10 years and it’s extremely debilitating. My life is incredibly restricted by the pain and fatigue I experience daily, DAILY! I wish Rod Liddle to be struck down with FM and for him to experience excruciating pain on a daily basis, for him to lose all confidence in himself because he can’t work, to have a broken sleep every night, for him to be unable to cook for himself or dress himself, for him to see his social life slipping away from him, for his freedom, independence and decision making to be taken away from him… I hate this disgusting man with a passion!!

To everyone out there who is outraged and who is sticking up for sufferers, for those partners, family members and friends who witness the suffering everyday and work hard to support their loved ones and stick by them through thick and thin… Thank you x

Larsonsmumsays:

This is outrageous, and as a freelance writer/journalist who has suffered ME/CFS for 38 years, AND Fibromylagia, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease, Scleroderma, Raynaud’s, Osteoarthritis, and a few other chronic illnesses to boot for the last 8/10 years, I’d be first to do whatever it takes to end Rod Liddle getting any column space in any newspaper or magazine from today onwards. His Editor ought to seriously be looking at throwing the book at him once and for all. I am so angry that The Sun has enabled this moron to air such abhorrent views publically. Someone have him removed.

Lucysays:

Another corker from Rod Liddle. Seriously, what an ignorant, arrrogant idiot. The idea that people who pretend to be disabled don’t deserve benefits is completely true, but he destroyed it in the first paragraph by saying M.E. is pretend and one of those illnesses. I’ve had it for 13 years (half my life) and now run a successful business. So obviously I’m lazy.

Barneysays:

‘Only attacking the fraudsters’. Duh. Who isn’t? If you wanted to eliminate ALL fraud you would have to eliminate all benefit. Its like Cameron saying the state should only fund films that are going to be successful. Bet on the horses but only bet on the ones that are going to win mate. There will always be people on the fiddle but if you make the criteria too strict you will prevent genuine cases receiving help. How about some PROPER information? How many people are on the sick? And what are the percentages for the various types of sickness for the claimants? That is if such useful statistics actually exist. If there are more people on disability benefits now than 20 years ago could that be because in the past the disabled were confined to a life of poverty and misery and not because of an increase in a vast number of ‘scroungers’?

paula robertssays:

Rob you are a discrace ! I have fms and suffer everyday and because of a result of this so does my children it is areal illness not made up ! Not everyone with theses illness claim benefits but the people who do have to fight for what they deserve I’m so mad I carnt even say no more your a ingronant. Twat wish you had this illness for one day then you’d see if its real or not !!!!!

Dianasays:

This man has lost his mind, I would love to see him spend one day in my shoes, or anyone else with these illnesses.. ignorance is all I can say.. get your facts straight clown. believe me I would love to be out in the working class again..

robkylesays:

Shame on this arrogant self centred idiot. ive had FM for many years this disgrace me .. maybe this twat should try living our lives for a day, FM/ME sufferes DO not ask to have this disease, nor do we ask to be labled as benefit SCROUNGERS, we struggle to look after ourself in our own homes, l’m also a carer for my son with learning/behaviour problems like others, WE STRUGGLE DAILY. THINK before you open than selfish mouth again this is total discrimination and i hope you get you fcking arse pounded.

Anonymoussays:

Emeraldsays:

Id give my life for 1 day without CFS/M.E & FM to run and play with my child, work with horses again, feel no pain and have 1 nights refreshed full satisfying sleep! This man is a cretinous idiot! The hoops we have to try and jump through to get these so-called easy benefits he suggests are dispicable, you wouldnt treat a dog as bad as the disabled are being treated byt ATOS and the DWP currently and in the last few years!

I know where id love to stick my crutches then do a drive by on my powerchair to make sure he knows how sufferers of these chronic illnesses feel!

Louisesays:

John: I can only assume you are an attention seeker looking for attention by being so ignorant. This article and some of the comments show blatant ignorance and nastiness. I have both M.E and Fibro, they have wrecked my life. I would not choose to live like this and I worked at my job until I literally collapsed. If I could work tomorrow I would, I hate the social isolation, the daily pain, the 24 tablets a day and the general feeling of ‘failing’ at life. I am not about to justify myself to the likes of these morons, they need to go and read some facts instead of carrying around this burden of ignorance that makes them look utterly stupid!

Barneysays:

On the subject of tax avoidance: Last I heard News International (owner of ‘news’paper The Sun) was registered in The Cayman Islands. The company benefits from British infrastructure with paying much towards it. I suppose the disabled should get jobs in the ‘real’ world like Glenn Mulcaire or Rebecca Brookes did (‘I know naatheeng’).

Marksays:

Mindykatsays:

Well I am very rarely left lost for words, but today I am so ANGRY words escape me. I have Fibromyalgia and have to live with it every day. Right now it looks like the illness will cost me my marriage and my husband finds it hard to cope with my pain and mood swings, you are so very out of order (polite version ) to write what you have about soemthing you know nothing about, and cause so many people stress and distress because thats what you have done!!!!!!! I hope you are very Proud of yourself and for your shake never cross my path.

Ruthsays:

I wonder if he is the kind of person who would prefer to be physically impaired, bedridden for most of the day, unable to walk or be in constant agony, than have a healthy lifestyle and a job? You know- the kind of person that doesn’t actually exist.

Also, perhaps they should be so kind as to change their wording from “newly invented illnesses” to “newly discovered”. I wouldn’t think it would be so difficult to comprehend that medical science is evolving all the time. Did he know M.E. has recently been discovered as an auto-immune disease, in Norway research? Probably not, because he’s clearly not studied anything before posting such insensitive text.

Natalie Jonessays:

I have ME. I have a friend with Fibromyalgia. I know two other people younger than me with ME. Gosh, don’t we just feel trendy when every single joint is screaming at us in pain, when every nerve ending in our bodies is sending the erroneous message that we’re in agony. The message may be wrong, but it doesn’t stop us feeling it, it doesn’t mean we can leap out of bed with vigour and go chasing down the road. How trendy I am when my feet hurt so much I can’t put them on the floor, how glamorous when I can even find the strength to get dressed or stand up to brush my teeth. What a wonderful life I’m living on roughly £12k a year to pay my rent, bills, buy food, pay for prescriptions, and all the other day to day things. I guess it’s just as well I can’t even manage to get to the shops then, isn’t it? After all, I’d probably be in the way of a *normal* person even if I did. Even the utter moron writing this piece for the Sun doesn’t deserve the pain I am in, and I’m too nice to wish it on him. There would be no point in wishing it on him for a day, because he’d know he could be normal again tomorrow, which I may never be again (10% recover rate for women in their 40’s diagnosed with ME). I wish I could be normal again. I wish we all would. I’d happily join the ranks of the job seekers rather than being house bound and in agony. I loved my active life, my socialising, my friends, my martial arts, my work. I adored it! But it’s ok, because apparently I’m trendy now, don’t I feel blessed!

Anonymoussays:

Leaving aside the offensive comments about types of disability for a moment, can anyone explain why the number of people who claim to be disabled would have doubled in the past ten years? Even if the ageing population and new disease classifications explain some of the increase, an increase of that scale in only a decade does suggest rampant fraud.

@Jean, while service personnel would account for a portion of that, they’re only a very small proportion of the increase.

Disability benefit is running at £33bn – that’s around £1,300 for every household in the UK.

Liddle’s remarks are ill-chosen, but if only I could remember a similar torrent of public outrage like this against people who defraud the public purse. It might actually lead to a better outcome for taxpayers and genuine claimants alike.

Rosesays:

“or one of those newly invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades – fibromyalgia, or M.E.”

Get your facts right it is not a newly invented illness I have had it for 24 long years and it was around long before that, there are many who are bedbound, with the curtains closed, in constant pain and exhaustion to name a few.It is so bad people have taken their lives, people have also died of the condition, and this is what YOU joke about, this is not journalism its Hate! Examine who you are picking on Liddle, and look at the person you have become are you proud!

anne montgomerysays:

Rod Liddle has no idea what he is talking about!!!! (nothing new there then). As a sufferer of fibromyalgia and syringomyelia, i am appalled at his obvious lack of compassion and his obvious lack of brains!!! Fibro sufferers have to contend with daily pain, stiffness, numbess, blurred vision and lots of other symptons that are too many to go into. I have had this illness for at least 10 years but was only diagnosed last year. At the moment i am able to work, and as long as i am able to i will, but i don’t want to be made to feel guilty if in the future i have to apply for disability benefits!!! Most days it is a struggle to get out of bed, but i can at least get myself about without too much help. I would like Rod Liddle to walk in a fibros shoes for a couple of months, i bet he would soon be changing his attitude to this terrible illness, why doesn’t he talk about the people who really abuse the system…. maybe not cos then no-one would read his page…I for one won’t be buying the sun any more.. at least until they get real reporters who actually knoe what they are talking about!!!!

How dare Rob make such comments. 20 years ago I had less than 24 hours to vacate my home because of black mold. To late for me, my health suffered and I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. I still worked 40+ housr a week even though It felt like having the worst kind of flu you can imagine. My son was diagnosed 11 years ago with bi-polar/ phycosis. I watched that little child grow up never being able to keep friends and constantly being bullied. Can you imagine being in 3rd grade and being held by one boy, while the other one kicked him in the testicles. My sons first reaction was to lash out and scratch the boys face. The next day a parent brought a picture in. We were summoned to the office. Long story short he was expelled from school for 3 days. The other boys went free. One month later an older kid kicked him in the testicles and they blew up like a balloon. He needed immediate surgery. That led to post traumatic stress. We watched the depression set in day after day. You could see it in his face. He would lay on the couch (age 13) staring up at the ceiling and tears rolling down his face., because he was afraid to go to school. We went to counceling,nothing helped. In 1992 he was diagnosed as bi-polar. Yes he is on Disability and will never be able to work, He’s not proud of it, but he has finally accepted that he has a disease through no fault of his own. We never heard of bi-polr back then. Seveeral members of our family have some sort of mental illness.The saddest illness is our nephew who is paranoid schizophrenic. I will admitthat some people milk the system, but most people do need the assistance. I might add that next time you “Ron” see a person that parks in handi-cap and looks healthy. That person might be me and I live everyday with a pain level of between7 & 9. Ipray for all of you with MI. or a hidden disability.

Lisasays:

What a poor excuse of a man, how dare he write comments like this without getting the full facts on how a person who has Fibromyalgia suffers. I have fibromyalgia and was diagnosed by a Rhymatoligst, I’ve suffered for 20 yrs have worked since I was 16 I’m now 45. To live with this illness where there’s no cure but just pumped with medication to ease the pain which they never do, to not be able to bath or dress yourself, play with your grandchildren, to hit rock bottom that there must be more 2 life than being in constant pain day in and day out. My one wish is for u to wake up one morning and suffer the way we do, then just maybe your think when you write such crap……disgusting

John @ 4.11pm. To you who is not yet disabled, I pity you. You are a sad excuse of a man who obviously has serious issues with your own self esteem. I note you have only written your first name which is probably false and hide behind your computer screen. Please advise us on your medical qualifications. I can only assume you don’t even have English GCSE let alone a medical degree. What makes you or Liddle qualified to make these comments. They used to think you could get AIDS from breathing it in and they didn’t have a test for MS but you wouldn’t know this as you are uneducated. If you get a headache, are you making it up as there is not a medical test for this?????!!!!!

Salliesays:

I am appalled at the article with regard to “pretend disabled” by Rod Liddle… what the hec are you doing letting this man who has no proof or medical knowledge of any other conditions he calls pretend print this article. You cannot be that desperate to pick on innocent long term chronic sick people. Now that is sick. I ask you please to print a full apology and to also print the truth, we genuine long term sick are going out of our minds with stress and worry already, this is just terrible. I am a sufferer of Fibromyalgia and would be more than happy to tell you how this affects my life. Also because of the disabling effect I suffer from depression, this article does not help. Why is this man picking on frail, sick people with already little hope? You should feel ashamed at passing that made up story! Stick to finding the real benefit cheats and shopping them! Sallie

I have fm cronic fatigue and ibs and up untill the point that i had a fall in work due to a seizure that i have not been able to go back i had been in the same job for 11 years and loved what i did but then getting told u will have these condition for the rest of your life u cant imagine what thats like having to change your whole life becuase of something u can not change.

so to Rod Liddle i hope something really bad happens to u in the near future that changes your whole life and then when u try to get benafits like i tryed u get told no

Samsays:

Apart from inciting hatred against the sick and disabled it is also factually inaccurate Rod.

Once again the lie about fraud levels in sickness and disability benefits – people never challenege the lie that is constantly repeated by every media outlet in the land and by every lying liar of a politician.

This document shows that the amount of disability benefit reportedly lost due to fraud remains low, indicating the majority of claimants are genuine.

It states that Incapacity Benefit, by percentage, is one of the least overpaid benefits and that more is lost on Incapacity Benefit due to official error than to fraud.

The figure for those fraudulently claiming Incapacity benefit is 0.3%. The figure for official error is 1.2%.

The Document states that £130m was lost to ‘Fraud and Error’ in the relevant period and that £70 Million of that was due to ‘Official Error’.

I would also point out that they have managed to add the three figures for ‘Fraud’ £20m, ‘Customer Error’ £50m and ‘Official Error’ £70m and arrive at a total figure of £130m which is clearly £10 million pounds out – who knows which way it is askew! Perhaps if I ever get well enough to return to work I could be employed checking government documents for basic errors.

It goes on to say that the rate of Disability Living Allowance Fraud is 0.5% and that for Official Error is 0.8% – again more error than fraudulent claiming and again a low figure for fraud compared with other benefits.

Donna Gunnelssays:

Some people r to ignorant to understand FIBROMYALGIA.. This person is stupid beyond belief,,I have worked all my life and started having problems years ago,,but ket working,now its unbearable..So Mr.R ,,,u r ignorant ,and we r not suppose to wish harm on anyone,,,but ,one day u will cccccc…(see) when it or something else bites u in your nerve endings,

Eric Tatesays:

Well, what does anyone expect from The Sun? They seem to make a point of hiring the most obnoxious possible opinions for their columns. The problem is that the rag is read by idiots who can’t form an opinion for themselves and want to be told what to think (after getting an eyeful of tits, of course). Liddle is disgusting and that’s why he was hired.

Anonymoussays:

“This document shows that the amount of disability benefit reportedly lost due to fraud remains low, indicating the majority of claimants are genuine.”

That’s not an accurate summary of the findings. Not only is the report based on a narrow definition of “fraud” – excluding circumstances where the “customer” declares they’re unaware that they’re not entitled, or where the conditions for the claim have been fudged – but also the sample size for incapacity benefit is “small”. It goes on to state:

“The estimates do not encompass all fraud and error. This is because fraud is, by its nature, a covert activity, complex official error can be difficult to identify and some suspicions of fraud on the sample cases cannot be proven. For example, unreported earnings in the informal economy will be much harder to detect than those in the formal economy.”

I repeat the question: why has the number of people who claim to be disabled doubled in the past ten years?

ALHsays:

Ive never wished bodily harm on another human being before and I dont intend to break my tradition for this… person… however there are others who do not share that perticular quirk and would upon seeing Mr Liddle on a pavement gleefully swerve, and while backing up to do it again respond to his cries of pain and for aid with ‘stop faking it!’.

Sarahsays:

Fibromyalgia and M.E. Are not nice to have. As a suffer of Fibromyalgia along with other health conditions/problems this nasty man has no thought or care for those of us who suffer on a daily basis crying because we hurt so much/exhausted. Having a disabled badge doesn’t entitle us to park anywhere there are restrictions in place as to where we can/cannot park. Getting benefits is not easy, there are benefits claimants out there like asylum seekers who get alot more money and entitlements that any disabled person. I hope one day he know’s what it’s like that he gets his just desserts what goes around comes around as they say and I hope he get nothing.

Linds-U.Ssays:

He is a fool and he is nothing more and less than that, if he was a good journalist he would not have chosen to do a story on benefit cheats in this way. Really his direction on this story is ill thought -misleading – stupid and for his career suicidal.

But when you research the said person – it becomes clear why he did this. If in doubt hit her!! He lacks moral judgement – intelligence – compassion – allowed personal views to taint a story and basically mislead thousands with his article.

Reckon he would be one those fools that thought – a duck em in water and if still alive after – its a witch!!

Samsays:

Who do you think you are???? do you think this is an easy life being in agony every day, I was just trying to find myself somthing to have for dinner tonight and my knees collapsed, im sorry is that imaginary??? oh right so all I need to do is imagine im fine and ill be all better, silly me, yes you should live a day in the life of one of us who suffer from these terrible illnesses, have you ever been hit by a truck?? no?? well thats how us with fibromyalgia feel every day, get yourself educated before you have a go at us all, I hate being on benefits this is not an easy lifestyle and I do not wish it on anyone, GET AN EDUCATION!! you disgusting little man!!!

demonicasays:

I have only read a little of this, does he think that people with invisable illnesses are putting it on, not all of us like to dodge out of work you know. Some of us have actually worked in our life and worked hard. I would love to work but due to oesteo arthritis and fibromyalgia i am unable to, how do you think those of us who do like working and have to suffer feel? not good i can tell you. We dont get a lot of money any way so where do you get the idea that we have loads of money from the government from, the DLA is really hard to get and we dont just diagnose ourselves you know we do get diagnosed by doctors and health professionals. Unless you have a health problem you dont know how we feel. so no one should comment unless they know how a disabled person or some one who has an invisable illness feels.

ANONYMOUSsays:

Totally ignorant rat of a man. After suffering heart problems for years and having to give up my work after twenty one years in a 1st class job, I assure him that people like me would rather be working. I was then diagnosed with Fibromyalgia three years ago. I am in constant pain and due to effects of the illness, it does not let you fall into a sleep. Being in pain all the time, being totally exhausted and no energy, poor concentration and memory difficulties due to this illness is not pleasant. The only medication available are very strong pain killers which I suffered terrible side effects with and have had to come off them. Why doesn’t this ignorant rat not go along to a Fibromyalgia support group meeting and do some research into this illness and he then may understand how wrong and hurtful his comments are to sufferers. I would like to see him say to a sufferers face what he has written instead of being a coward. I had private health insurance cover so I pay full council tax along with my mortgage as the insurance money is classed as savings. My total income from the government is £4,000 -00 pounds per year for incapacity benefit. I am a married male sufferer aged 54 years.

Denisesays:

Rod Liddle you horrible distrace of a man!! I had lived with fibro for around 9 years, in this time I had almost died with anorexia due to this illness. I worked all my life, and after coming down with this illness I have not been able to function let alone work. I have lost all my work friends and social life, and have had to reply on friends and family to be able to live. I have also had to learnt to walk again. I think you are extremely discusting for the article you have written, I am disturbed and deeply upset by your comments. People with this illness are so severly disabled that they cannot live a norma independantl life. You have never suffered the illness, and doubt very much that you know anyone that has this or ME so what rights have you go to try to make out that we are scroungers? I hope that something like this happens to you or to your wife and lets just see how you cope you dickhead!!

Melsays:

You utter disgust me as a single mother of two who has been diagnosed with both arthritis fybromyalgia and depression due to the fact I have not been able to work for a year now. You try living with this condition continuing to pay your way in society and look after my family. I’d like to see you be in constant pain and no matter what drugs are tried that pain still not going away. Try living with the side effects of the drugs to help us get through each day . Your an utter waste of space and a public apology to all us genuine sufferers is the least we deserve .

Introduction Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also referred to in the literature as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is a complex disease involving profound dysregulation of the central nervous system (CNS) [1–3] and immune system [4–8], dysfunction of cellular energy metabolism and ion transport [9–11] and cardiovascular abnormalities [12–14]. The underlying pathophysiology produces measurable abnormalities in physical and cognitive function and provides a basis for understanding the symptomatology. Thus, the development of International Consensus Criteria that incorporate current knowledge should advance the understanding of ME by health practitioners and benefit both the physician and patient in the clinical setting aswellas clinical researchers.

I don’t doubt that there are some people who pretend to have such conditions but I suspect they are dwafed by the number who are genuinely very unwell and desperate to get better and return to some form of living rather than simplt existing in pain and illness day in day out for deacdes.

And, against what is generally thought, there are people with these disorders worlwide in all socio-economic groups and they are on the rise. There has been much debate about there being an infectious aetiology why the numbers are increasing.

I am a Fibromyalgia Sufferer. I believe you should educate yourself before running you mouth. My days are filled with pain, stiffness, and fatigue. I am battling Depression along with other mental problems. I have so many of the overlapping illnesses involving with Fibromyalgia. I wake up in the mornings after just a few hours of sleep to stiffness. I have to stretch my body and then slowly get up because i then get dizzy. I then try to move but fearing that I might fall. My life is mostly staring at walls all day or going from one doctor to the next and not getting any relief from my FM. I have lost family time, and many people who I thought was my friends due to this illness. I am unable to work but also unable to do a lot of the fun stuff I have done in the past. I am hurting, lonely and right now mad at your comments. I do believe in Karma and I know that it will find you. oh by the way I have worked all my life and suffered through most of it. I did not stop working until my illness got real bad. So I am using the money that I have put into the SS. I pray that you never get any of these illnesses but if you do we all will be waiting for an apology. Sometimes when someone does not know all the facts, the best thing to do is keep your mouth shut.

Diane Walshsays:

How utterly disgusting i cant even read the whole article as i am so angry. I happen to have both of the new illnesses as described in this article. Both me and fm are not new illnesses they have been around since time began. I have always said i wouldnt wish either of them on anyone but i have changed my mind. It is so sad that some ppl are arrogant, uneducated and most definately predjudice. Just thank your lucky stars you dont have either of these illnesses as believe you me your life as you knew it would be smashed to pieces.

S. Mansellsays:

I have lived with Fibromyalgia since i was 7 yrs old, however i wasn’t diagnosed until i was 34yrs old. I was always told to ‘take an aspirin’ for your pain. I wouldn’t wish fibro upon anyone, the constant pain all over your body, along with everything else. I have worked whilst being ill with this, even thought of committing suicide at a couple of points in my life, because no one was helping me. Also, by the way, i can’t get DLA as they don’t acknowledge Fibromyalgia!

Linda Kellysays:

I have Fibromyalgia, I8 have suffered all my life with pain. When i was a baby and growing up it didn’t have a name just one of those things, but i have throughout my life have days, weeks sometimes months in severe pain with no explanation just lots of painkillers. I now have it permanently due to a drugged up driver crashing into us causing back problems shoulder and neck, i suffer from chronic/severe pain everyday of my life, and i certainly do not pretend to be disabled, i am due for another op on my shoulder which will no doubt take ages to heal due to the fm, but i carry on everyday as do us all, i still work, even though my docotr would like me not to, there are days i feel i cant go on but i am determined to keep going until i can no longer move!! I would like this idiot to live in my shoes, work my job, pay my bills and see what life…sorry ‘real life’ is like for every single one of us that do have genuine problems and suffer usually in silence as idiots like him make comments such as his, there are no cures, at present and we all live in hope for many illnesses to be cured or good pain relief etc will be found, please put me in a room with this person to argue the finer points and his comments out…..Has he the guts and gumption to do so? The offer is here come talk to genuine sufferers..we all await your responce!

Scribblessays:

How can anyone be this (deliberately?) blind? 80% fit for work? If you say so, and IF you choose to believe ATOS when they deliberately deny 3 out of 5 people’s illnesses or disabilities. I guess he doesn’t realise that bigoted stories like this fuel hate for ALL disabled people. Liddle doesn’t realise that all the little brains out there see a story like this and then deduce that ALL disabled must surely be ‘faking it’. That isn’t just irresponsible, it is down right reprehensible. Sure, there are fakers out there. BUT DON’T PAINT ALL DISABLED PEOPLE AS SCROUNGERS WILL YOU? There is enough hate out there already, as a result of other trash tabloids i’ll choose not to name (you know who I refer to) and the very Govt we didn’t elect. Disabled people are afraid enough already, Rod Liddle is a disgrace for joining in with the witch-hunt. The Sun are also a disgrace for publishing this bile.

Sallie Tsays:

Cheryl Risdensays:

PLEASE Rod,please take the fibromyalgia away that hinders my whole life and leaves me with crippling pain so i can get off benefits and go to work. I want to own my own home and support my family and get carers in to support my husband who has parkinsons(so he isnt included in your speil). Whats that you say,you cant do that?????? Well stop belittleing me and help me then!!!!!!

Lauretta Pearsonsays:

Anyone wishing to complain about this article here is a link to the Press Complaints Commission. This is a disgraceful piece of journalism and I for one have complained. I have never known such discrimination in all my days. The Journalist actually mentions and illness that is actually quite devastating to the sufferer. It’s the old story, what you can’t see don’t believe. Pain cannot be seen and is often suffered in silence! You are a bigoted man and I for one and disgusted in your attitude and obvious dislike of the sick an disabled.

LISA COOKsays:

HE SHOULDN’T HAVE MENTIONED A DISABILITY BY NAME ( I EXPECT THAT WAS TO GET A REACTION) . I THINK HE WAS ATTACKING THOSE PEOPLE WHO DO CLAIM TO BE DISABLED BUT AREN’T. SURELY THE PEOPLE TO BE ANGRY AT ARE THOSE WHO SUPPORT THESE PEOPLES CLAIMS AND ALLOW THEM TO CLAIM DLA AS IT’S THESE PEOPLE WHO MAKE IT HARDER FOR GENUINELY DISABLED PEOPLE TO CLAIM ANY BENEFITS.

Larsonsmumsays:

Further to my post earlier, the only thing we can hope is that there will be such a backlash against him from so many quarters, that it will actually focus more attention on all the chronic illnesses he is poo-pooing. It would be some comfort for so many people if that kind of good came out of this moron’s abhorrent utterings :))

Samsays:

“In law, hate speech is any speech, gesture or conduct, writing, or display which is forbidden because it may incite violence or prejudicial action against or by a protected individual or group, or because it disparages or intimidates a protected individual or group. The law may identify a protected individual or a protected group by race, gender, ethnicity, disability[3], nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity,[4] or other characteristic.”

ALHsays:

I had to laugh at the almost predictable response from the Telegraph with the required ‘magic money tree’ reference. The magic money tree is not for you plebs! It is only to supply people rich enough to deserve free money!

HPsays:

My New Year’s resolution for 1986 was to become disabled. Nothing too serious, maybe just one of those recognised and incurable illnesses which have left me, and tens of thousands of others in excrucitatingly painful living death for decades, and for which there is no effecive treatment – fibromyalgia and M.E.

If Mr Liddle wishes to become disabled too, he is welcome to a transfusion of my blood.

Starletsays:

If one of his sons was in a serious car accident and needed blood urgently and they said to Mr Liddle we have blood from someone who says they have no health problems and blood from someone who says they have M.E. would Mr Liddle, given the choice, choose the one from the person with M.E. or the one from the healthy person? I think we all know which one he’d choose. People with M.E. have been banned from giving blood for life due to the possible risks of transfering it to others but obviously this overgrown twit knows better than the medical profession doesn’t he? I would usually never wish anything as serious as M.E. on anyone due to the untold misery it brings for the sufferer but for Mr Liddle, I’ll make the exception.

Having M.E. is “fashionable,” according to Rod “I’m An Idiot” Liddle. Since 1997, life as I knew it has been destroyed by M.E. Prior to coming down with M.E., I was a full-time worker and college student, went backpacking and cross-country skiing, and I’d dance all night at the clubs. For the last fifteen years, I have been in constant, grinding pain. Opiates allow me to function only at the bare minimum level. I cannot take a shower, brush my hair, get dressed, or leave the house due to my physical limitations. Considering the length and severity of my illness, I will probably never get better. Does this sound like a “fashionable” lifestyle to anyone with half a brain?

Introduction Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also referred to in the literature as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), is a complex disease involving profound dysregulation of the central nervous system (CNS) [1–3] and immune system [4–8], dysfunction of cellular energy metabolism and ion transport [9–11] and cardiovascular abnormalities [12–14]. The underlying pathophysiology produces measurable abnormalities in physical and cognitive function and provides a basis for understanding the symptomatology. Thus, the development of International Consensus Criteria that incorporate current knowledge should advance the understanding of ME by health practitioners and benefit both the physician and patient in the clinical setting aswellas clinical researchers.

I don’t doubt that there are some people who pretend to have such conditions but I suspect they are dwafed by the number who are genuinely very unwell and desperate to get better and return to some form of living rather than simplt existing in pain and illness day in day out for deacdes.

And, against what is generally thought, there are people with these disorders worlwide in all socio-economic groups and they are on the rise. There has been much debate about there being an infectious aetiology why the numbers are increasing.

A Parrysays:

What an complete A-SE Rod Liddle is. I have lived with Fibromyalgia for over 20 years. It is a very painful condition. I have been hospitalised by this and have had to use crutches and a walking stick. I have lost a lot of confidence as well as the ability to work. I had a great energetic life before this stuck. I am lucky to have a Husband who supports me and helps me with physical side of things. I belong to a support group and all of them know how painful this condition is, and how hard it is to live with. Maybe he should take the time and spend time with people with this condition. God help him if anyone close to him ends up with this.

As someone who has lived with a chronic back problem now for nearly 10 years, perpetually hooked up to opiates for pain relief that in reality only really knocks the edge off, often not able to get out of bed or my chair without the wonderful support of my awesome partner and carer; Jon, who has had to give up HIS job to look after me on a full time basis, this vile attack on the most vulnerable people in our society today (not that I class myself as vulnerable but am well aware that there are thousands who are so) is heinous in the extreme and he needs to try and walk a yard in our shoes before he criticises with a blanket attack. Whilst it is true there are many many people who are defrauding the benefits system with less than credible symptoms, these are the ones who should be subject to his ‘investigations’ rather than blanket accusations being levied at all. Shame on him.

sallysays:

well all i can say is what a stupid cowardly man he is , fibro , wow i wish it was contagiouse because im sure millions who suffer from this terrible painful illness would hunt you down , how dare he mock us , he should be sued and made to stand down from his job , i can asure you that if there was a cure for this then we would be queuing for it , i would rarther have a life and be more inderpendent than have money i can tell you , and can i assure you that its not just filling out a form and getting money , its a fight after fight to try and survive not only with fibro but trying to get money to help with little things like getting help in and ou of bath , paying someone to help you shop , this man is nothing but a stupid ignarent twat who thinks its ok to mock people , what will it be next , mocking what colour your skin is , IDIOT

Timmy Malletsays:

Saints & Scroungers (sorry BBC) One rather upsetting thing with a disability is not knowing exactly what ones problem is or causes it. i’m not saying giving a disability a name makes it easier to cope & bear with, because a name will provide a course of action to alleviate &/or aid the symptons. Coming up to Christmas ’87 i started having intense headaches causing problems at work (Postman) & at home. The diagnosis was stress. Take these tablets & have a weeks holiday. No longer employed i was seeing consultants, taking an everchanging range of tablets, a couple of operations, a series of legal “alternative” treatments, none of which provided a clear analysis of the complaint. Enter the mallett, or brick, or stone, brick wall, road kerbstone, anything that i could bang my head with to control the pain. And today??? It’s Post Trauma. It’s permanent. It’s stopped me from working. I can’t do a lot of stuff cos it’ll aggrevate. Luckily my family & friends can laugh at & with me. It’s a local joke. It has also proven that a disability is not easily noticed nor recognisable. My money is on the fact that nearly everyone who is has a disability limited condition would love a magic pill to effect an instant total cure. We’ve got it wrong…. Rod is correct in publishing this. It’s the can of worms, Pandora’s box, cat out the bag. What’s the betting someone is going to inform authorites regarding a scrounger within the next few weeks. And it’ll stick.

Troysays:

I would love this guy to sand in front of me and make these comments to my face. After me wacking him in the balls with my walking still lets see how he likes being in pain for a few hour’s then when it starts wearing off I will wack him again and will continue to do this for the whole of the week he wants to be disabled……

Glen McGregorsays:

Open invitation to this odious excuse for a human being to come live with my family for a month and do what we do. I was diagnosed last year with FMS at the age of 52. I had never heard of Fibromyalgia. Never have I claimed any form of unemployment benefit or DLA etc and it is still the furthest thing from my mind. I want to work and do work, I am one of the lucky ones.

I believe in freedom of the press but when idiots like this publish, and are allowed to be published, perhaps there should be some control. You come and take the tablets I and everyone else with FMS generally has to take daily to keep functioning and maybe then you would understand. Then again you are probably incapable of compassion and understanding. Arrogant twit!

clairesays:

Your an idiot if you think all disabled people are “PUTTING IT ON” and having invisible diseases, you need a reality check and open them eyes of yours, maybe a voluntary stint in the local pain management clinic in the hospital would do you the world of good but thats probably be beneath you to try, maybe you shoud have some kinda evidence of back up before you try and make that kinda speech next time

Gilliansays:

You odious man how can you stand there pontificating on subjects you know nothing about ? I have Bipolar which I have to manage without drugs I have ME/Fibromyalgia which had you checked your facts before writing your ‘ piece ‘ who will find that research has proved that 75% of sufferers will have both conditions. Also I guess with your highly unqualified doctor skills you will know better than Prof Jill Belch and ME Research that recently performed a study on 15, 000 children re ME. I also was diagnosed with spinal Arthritis last year too. I live daily with these conditions and I alongside my husband bring up 3 children……..I don’t claim incapacity benefit and my children are doing well in school and in life in general. I guess that it is so easy for you to pick on people that are suffering and some days unable to do much due to high pain levels and other symptoms that quite simply put you would not allow an animal to suffer but then it is all for the good of a gutter rag that has allowed a piece that is openly targeting a minority group …may you never know what it is to have these conditions but should you ever do please choke on your own words and whilst your at it don’t come to the many help and support groups that they are cos lets face it you will just be faking it like the rest of us ………shame on this newspaper !

clairesays:

i agree gillian, he has no concrete evidence to back up his ridicuolous story, did he not go to university as they teach from the off that evidence is a must. you stupid man GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE YOU GO MOUTHING OFF, you have really upset alot of people you complete idiot YOU SHOULD BE FIRED AND WHEN YOU DO I HOPE ITS A DISABLED PERSON WHO GETS YOUR JOB !!!!!!!!

skintus maximussays:

I have a bad back, the medical terms are as follows: arthritis of the lower spine and hips, two prolapsed disc’s both compressing my spinal cord. I have had an MRI scan and xray’s from which the diagnosis was made. I have a copy of a letter sent by a consultant rheumatologist to my GP which details all his findings. I am treated with contempt and suspicion, made to feel worthless, a burden on society, a scrounger, a liar, a cheat. Feelings such as pointless, useless, hopeless and endless are all my own

I receive CONTRIBUTION based benefits, at my last job centre interview (Jan 10th 2012) I was told that I am still in CREDIT due to 28 years of working and paying tax, NI etc. OH and the cause of my bad back? Wear and tear I’m told. So I worked too hard then.

Beccasays:

My sister has this newly invented illness called ‘fibromyalgia’. YEAH so annoyed at him right now, my mum is FUMING and shes phoned the sun and is complaining about this, this guy deserves to loose his job and be refused benefits.

Rachel Leadersays:

Disability is not easy to claim at all. My son had Meningitis at the age of six months, after countless operations he is now a 12 year old with limited mobility. He is in constant pain, which he deals with courage and bravery. He uses crutches daily to get around school when he is able to go. Once home he sits in his room as he is to exhausted to do anything else. What kind of life is that for a 12 year old….. All this and I had to fight right up to tribunal to get help from the government and that has only been since March last year that I had claimed. So Mr Liddle you go and try and put a claim through, see how far you get. Silly old muppet.

lindasays:

This man has no idea what he is talking about as a sufferer of ME and fibromaylaga i can asure you its not a pretend illness, it’s very ill and very disabling. It certainly not easy to get benefits for it. I can’t claim disability allowance, although some days I cry in pain. At times I can hardly walk. My head pounds to a point you can hardly see. The pains are undescribable i’m on 26 tablets aday, to help with the pain. On very cold days the pains are worse,i wish he could have a few days of my pains and then tell me they are made up !!!!

katysays:

To use his own words FAT OLD FASCIST!! How dare he…….the best bit it in all his idotic verbal diarrhea he tries to make a point that there are some people that really need the money and some that use the system….but how dare he bring up M.E when he obviously has no idea about the illness.

I truely hope what goes around comes around!

Angelasays:

What a idiot fibro and M.E are real I am 42 and disabled in pain constantly on morphine tablets have to use a wheelchair oh yes I do all this for fun! I cannot take my children to the park and run around with them . Yes my life great thanks!

ZenXsays:

Elaine Curnosays:

Rod Liddle AKA asshole…….how dare you talk about a condition you clearly know nothing about you arrogant individual. Get your facts right before you open your big mouth. I would dearly love you to experience these conditions by why for just a month…. wimp……I’ve had it for 18 bloody years and work, also do voluntary work, raise money for charities to help those self manage this terrble condition and raised two children on my own…..and I don’t have a disability badge despite spending many months in hospital paralysed through this”invented peaky” illness. How dare you question me about having such a cruel illness and make it sound so bloody trivial……you are the biggest dick head ever………….Get a life and I hope and pray you get a taste of what it is like not to have your health……

Bernerlapsays:

Liddle was commenting about fraudsters and pointed out that they were damaging people who truly deserved benefits – a position that sounds totally reasonable to me. But even if he wasn’t being reasonable whatever happened to that quaint old idea called ‘freedom of speech’. Or has anyone who has ever applied for a disability or sickness benefit joined the long list of those beyond criticism?

michael hallsays:

What an ignorant pratt. Fibromyalgia is not an invented illness, I’m on 23 tablets a day for the condition. My quality of life has been totally devistated because of this illness. People with this condition have committed suicide because they cant cope with it. I wonder if he’s ever had a really bad case of the flu, if he has, imagine having it every single day of your life. Rod liddle should get his facts right before opening his gob about things he obviously knows nothing about. People with fibromyalgia ME and CFS have a hard enough time making themselves heard and believed without the need of this anus adding his 2 pennies worth. I feel victimised and angered by his thoughtless comments he should visit some of the groups that help people deal with it and see how devistating it can be. If he wants to come and see me he is more than welcome, can’t promise not to put my walking stick somewhere I shouldn’t though. The Sun is also out of order publishing this offensive article and should know better.

Lesley Tappsays:

Some information for a very ignorant human or in other words Rod Liddle. Fibromyalgia is not a new condition. It was first described in the early 1800s. Physicians then recognized and wrote about a condition they called muscular rheumatism, and described the signs and symptoms of what we now call fibromyalgia. It has also been called chronic rheumatism, myalgia, and fibrositis. Some in the medical profession thought, and may still think, that it is psychological in nature. In 1824, tender points were described by a doctor in Edinburgh. In 1880, a doctor described the same condition and then called it neurasthenia. An article from 1904 referred to it as fibrositis (Williamson, 1996, p. 6). In 1913 in the British Medical Journal, a physician by the name of Luff talked about the factors of fibrositis. He noted that the symptoms grew worse when the barometric pressure lowered and rain was approaching. People with FMS today are familiar with this phenomena. (Williamson, 1996, p. 16). We now know that fibrositis is the wrong name, because there really is not inflamation in people with fibromyalgia. In 1987, it was first recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA) as a “true” illness and the (JAMA), a physician named Goldenberg called the syndrome fibromyalgia. Maybe you will read this and appoligise for your distructive words you used today, I do hope that you or any of your family never have to go through this illness and then the battle to try and get help when you are then unable to work as you wish you could. Who would decide they wanted fibro and claim benifits over feeling weel rather than half living as i feel !! when your at your lowest you need to fight the hardest to get help , who ever gave you the idea of it being easy to claim got it all wrong . Its more like kick you when your down !!!!!!

Billy's Bonessays:

I can see that Rod Liddle has stirred up a lot of anger here. I have actually read the article. I do not see how anybody can suggest this is an attack on disabled people. He is using irony (maybe clumsily) but irony nonetheless, to say 3 things:

1. Malingerers PRETENDING to be disabled are a curse upon people who are disabled. 2. Anyone claiming disabled benefit is viewed as being beyond reproach: this view must change, we must take a more realistic view. 3. I know we hate bankers more, and the Coalition should take a tougher line with them, too.

The violent threats that purport to be reasonable comments here are as bigoted as anything Mr Liddle has been accused of. In a free society people can and should be allowed to express their opinions freely, even if they are not widely held. The trick if you disagree is to argue coherently not simply rant and threaten violence. That is what we as a species have a habit of doing too often.

Rachelsays:

This article has made me feel the rage! Complaint e-mail sent to the sun.

I want to make a complaint regarding Rod Liddle’s article “Pretend disabled really are sick”.

Mr Liddle’s claim that illnesses such as fibromyalgia and ME are “recently invented illnesses which make you a bit peaky for decades” is nothing more than a nasty, insulting, bullying attack upon anyone who suffers from these illnesses.

Furthermore the idea that it is somehow fashionable to be a sufferer is laughable. I am a fibromyalgia sufferer and I would be more than happy to describe to Mr Liddle exactly how fashionable I feel when my husband has to help me shower and dress then practically carry me down the stairs in the morning because my limbs are so stiff and painful I can barely move. I would love the opportunity to tell him just how “cool and with it” I am when I attend a meeting at work (yes, shock horror, I have a job!) and have to discretly ask a colleague to tell me everything that was agreed afterwards because, due to the cognitive dysfunction which is a feature of fibromyalgia, I have no recollection of any of it.

Popular media has a large part to play in shaping public attitudes and articles such as this are a significant contributing factor to the rising level of hate crime against disabled people. Even if Mr Liddle wrote this article with an element of “tongue in cheek” he must accept some level of responsibility in propagating the myth that conditions such as ME and fibromyalgia are all in the mind, or worse, nothing more than a cunning ruse to escape having to work for a living and get a blue badge.

People who suffer from invisible disabilities have a hard enough time getting others to understand that yes, we really do need that seat on the bus and we’re genuinely not being lazy taking the lift up one floor without lazy journalism suggesting that we’re also self indulgent con artists.

josays:

After reading this article today i am SO angry, and also extremely angry at some of the comments posted here. I suffer from one of these new fashionabl­e illnesses as he would call it. I suffer from fibromyalg­ia and let me assure you it is REAL! I put in a claim for DLA 3 months ago but have heard nothing back and i very much doubt if i will get it with attitudes like this. I do not have a blue badge even though i am unable to walk past my own front gate without assistance­. The pain i suffer is immense, severe migraines at least 4 times a week, constant pain throughout my body, fatigued constantly­. I wonder how he would cope if he had to go through that on a daily basis. I worked all my life up until 3 years ago when i became unwell, my condition has worsened over the last 6 months. If i could go back to work i would welcome it with open arms, but it really is not an option for me.

Petesays:

Saying people who fraudulently claim any benefit is wrong – well that’s a no-brainer isn’t it? Everyone – whatever their political leaning – would agree. Not really controversial.

But to be such a presumptuous arse of a journalist that you dare decide that you know better than the medical profession, and decide in your wisdom which diseases are real or not, and which members of society are fakes and malingerers even though they suffer from real, recognised diseases, beggars belief.

We should indeed weed out the fraudsters, but that’s about targeting criminal individuals, not deciding on an arbitrary whim that some diagnoses deserve ridicule and name-calling. That’s just whipping up hatred, scorn and suspicion of a group of people in society that really don’t deserve it.

outlaw_tornsays:

I have M.E. and it has ruined not just my life but my wife’s and my children’s. I’m 39 and I live in perpetual hell! I’m always in a great deal of pain, tired beyond endurance, unable to walk hand in hand with the woman I love, instead I get to be pushed around in a wheelchair by her. I can’t go out by myself and buy her a Valentines day card! I can’t make her a beautiful meal to express just a fraction of the love I have for her. Nor can I take her to bed and make love to her the way we used to, the way I want to. I wonder if he can imagine just how much that hurts, how utterly sick I feel because of it? How much more I hate myself for being like this? How close to the edge it pushes me? That the only thing stopping me from ending this pain filled existence is the love for that woman? And guess what? That just makes me feel worse because I’m selfish! All this from a disease that makes you peaky. I’m glad I don’t have something really wrong with me. I admit to having a blue badge, though I rarely go out to use it. When I do the disabled spaces are full of angry people with no badge who believe this journalist’s bile that the disabled are no more incapacitated than the average person in the street, so why shouldn’t they. My benefits are helpful, but hardly a fortune. If I could work in the field I used to I would earn roughly 50k a year. My benefits do not add up to that amount. I would work out how long it would take to get that, if I was able to but since getting M.E. and the brain fogs it brings, I’ve not been any good at maths, among other things. This journalist is just bashing a section of society that is already misunderstood, feared and distrusted. We need no help from him in that.

Claresays:

Colin lemonsays:

I hope he gets fibromyalgia, depression and no DLA just like I do. I once had a boss who said depression!! Need a good kick up the bum, I’m rather pleased to hear that my ex boss now has Depression. I really hope you get Fibromyalgia, see how you like it, I lost my career because of it and associated conditions.

Irene Payntersays:

I am a Fibromyalgia/CFS sufferer. I have lived every minute of the day/night with this completely debilitating condition for the last few years, with no cure presently being found and on-going trials and errors in finding ANY medication which helps even the slightest, I have been advised that I may ‘never’ be without this condition.

I have gone from being a fulltime 8 -14 + hrs a day, hard working employee in a very physically/mentally demanding role with extremely important responsibilities, (which I have personally spent a good amount of time working extremely hard for) as well as looking after a husband and three children, (a ‘happy’ person who loved my job and my life style), to someone who can barely get out of bed each day because of pain, if I manage to get to bed at all due to the pain I am in 24/7/365.

I dont LOOK ill but inside I’m in excruciating pain, I’m lucky if I can sleep for more than a few minutes, if i can lie in one position for even a moment without feeling the pain due to the pressure of the mattress or the weight of even a thin sheet on my skin. so I’m also constantly exhausted.

Not to mention the psychological changes that occur with these conditions. Only my closest family/friends & medical team see the depressive/suicidal phases I go through, only they see the changes, the fibrofog, the changed personality, the anxiety and panic attacks which can strike at any moment without warning.

I, like many others who have these ‘invisible illnesses’ face non-belief from those we desperately need to BELIEVE us. If they cant see it then it must not be there! they dont see the effort it takes for us to ‘put on a brave face and make the best of a really bad situation’ or ‘the excruciating pain we force ourselves to work through because we have no other choice’

Yes FMS is believed to be a neurological condition, but it is NOT just in our minds it is REAL. It takes on a physical form, not just a pschological one. It affects every aspect of our lives, changing them, its not only an invisible condition its a total life changer, we become reclusive, depressed, a shadow of our former selves and not because we WANT to, we have no choice.

You will not find one person who is genuinely suffering from one of these ‘invisible illnesses’ who does not wish they COULD go to work and support/fend for themselves NOT ONE I guarantee it. You will not find one person who is HAPPY to have these debilitating conditions.

Unless you have personal knowledge of how these affect those who suffer, or have experienced them for yourself or a loved one, you will NEVER understand.

Does this also mean that soldiers suffering from PTSD are ‘pretend disabled’ people? I seriously do not think so.

There are many people who are fighting to have these invisible illnesses/conditions/syndromes recognised and help those who genuinely need it. Medical professionals, some MPs, suffers are fighting tooth and nail.

The press would be better respected if they looked at both sides instead of printing just one sides un-educated ‘opinion’

I totally agree rout out those who are milking the system fraudulently, but dont tar all of us with their brush.

G Titleysays:

What an outrage, ME I assure is not an invented illness that makes you “peaky” its a very serious condition. I was lucky I had it for a year in my early teens I was home for a year could not get to school and denied home tuition. At the time my family doctor thought I had leukemia. He needs to get his facts straight before sounding off. Hopefully with the press standards inquiry we will have a regulated media industry so people like Rod Liddle of the Sun will not be able to publish such rubbish based upon a narrow minded discriminatory opinions. Get your facts first before making such hateful remarks!

Isabella Caldwellsays:

How can someone be so heartless and uncaring, we all know that some people claim benefits that they are not entitled to but that has nothing whatsoever to do with the genuine people who have a daily struggle with life. YOU should be ASHAMED of yourself mister and MADE to APOLOGIZE !!!

I am just as upset reading this as the many posts before me. I have only been diagnosed a few years but I have had to fight for those around me to understand how very real Fibromyalgia is to those suffering with it and their Families. It isn’t enough that Fibromyaglia takes so much from those who have it but takes so much from their families as well. I don’t wish it on Mr. Liddle. I don’t wish this awful thing on any body. I think we may have given him too much attention already. Instead we should be writing our own articles. I think we need to continue to educate and Mr Liddle appears to be to be in need of an education. survivingfibro.blog.com

john rsays:

I have had M.E for 20 years, its a bloody awful illness and ruins your life, I don’t usually like complainathons, ie, Clarkson, but in the ‘near lynchmob’ atmosphere towards disabled people at the moment, we need all the complaints and true facts we can muster.

So, I rang the PCC today, the guy was a bit pompous, then again I did say ”it looks as if you only take up cases from the powerful”!, anyway, he wasn’t much help but did say he had other people ring to complain about it and over time disabled groups have had complaints accepted.

all to the phones, etc…

Susan Sullivansays:

I was raging reading Rod Liddles attack on disabled today. My partner and myself are both registered disabled but we would both give it up to work if we could be pain free long enough. I have the ‘invented’ illness Fibromyalgia which leaves me in constant pain and I cannot even use a knife and fork so if Liddle wants to be disabled for a month I hope he finds someone to wipe his arse for him cos its not all fun not working and ‘sponging’ off the state. My partner is waiting on a back operation as he can barely walk at all now with the constant pain of 3 discs out in his back and with a 30% chance of success he might end up completely in a wheelchair. Who is Rod Liddle anyway??? I only noticed his column in the sun after the great Kelvin McKenzie stopped writing his column. I would not wish the pain we are in on our worst enemy but Rob Liddle if you want to live like us for a month I do hope someone helps you along a good bit with the pain factor starting around your mouth area.

visible?says:

Maybe posters on here who are sick and disabled or allies could report this info, there are now some people who want to challenge the welfare reforms in more visible ways so Disabled People Action and now UKUncut are to protest the welfare reforms, looking for support, big event it seems…

i have suffered with chronic pain, later diagnosed as fibromyalgia. for over 10 years now. here in ireland we are not entitled to social welfare benefits as fibro sufferers.. its a constant uphill battle trying to get from one end of the day to the next, while in most cases u are crying because of the severe pain ur in. normally i wouldnt wish this cruel disease on my worst enemy…. but u know something??,,i wouldnt mind seeing this sorry excuse for a man having to suffer with fibromyalgia or M.E. for a while and let him see what its like, just for a while. the ignorant shit.

johnsays:

In England, Wales, and Scotland, the Public Order Act 1986 prohibits, by its Part 3, expressions of racial hatred, which is defined as hatred against a group of persons by reason of the group’s colour, race, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. Section 18 of the Act says:

A person who uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, abusive or insulting, is guilty of an offence if— (a) he intends thereby to stir up racial hatred, or (b) having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up thereby. Offences under Part 3 carry a maximum sentence of seven years imprisonment or a fine or both.[6]

The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 inserted Part 4A into the Public Order Act 1986. That part prohibits anyone from causing alarm or distress. Part 4A states:

(1) A person is guilty of an offence if, with intent to cause a person harassment, alarm or distress, he— (a) uses threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour, or disorderly behaviour, or (b) displays any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting, thereby causing that or another person harassment, alarm or distress.

A person guilty of an offence under this section is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.[7]

The Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006 amended the Public Order Act 1986 by adding Part 3A. That Part says, “A person who uses threatening words or behaviour, or displays any written material which is threatening, is guilty of an offence if he intends thereby to stir up religious hatred.” The Part protects freedom of expression by stating in Section 29J:

Nothing in this Part shall be read or given effect in a way which prohibits or restricts discussion, criticism or expressions of antipathy, dislike, ridicule, insult or abuse of particular religions or the beliefs or practices of their adherents, or of any other belief system or the beliefs or practices of its adherents, or proselytising or urging adherents of a different religion or belief system to cease practising their religion or belief system.

The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 amended Part 3A of the Public Order Act 1986. The amended Part 3A adds, for England and Wales, the offence of inciting hatred on the ground of sexual orientation. All the offences in Part 3 attach to the following acts: the use of words or behaviour or display of written material, publishing or distributing written material, the public performance of a play, distributing, showing or playing a recording, broadcasting or including a programme in a programme service, and possession of inflammatory material. In the circumstances of hatred based on religious belief or on sexual orientation, the relevant act (namely, words, behaviour, written material, or recordings, or programme) must be threatening and not just abusive or insulting.[8]

The Football Offences Act 1991 (amended by the Football (Offences and Disorder) Act 1999) forbids indecent or racialist chanting at designated football matches.

Angela Manocchiosays:

To post a comment concerning this idiot who says that we profit from the governement well that is low for your info Mr. Liddle, I have been diagnosed with fibro since 2009 I work by the way and I am living a living hell, it’s really not funny having this sickness, by the way it’s not between our ears, it is recognized all over and I wish to God that you or a member of your family will be hit by it so you’ll stop making stupid accusations like these ones, you will see what Fibro does, I have to drug myself with heavy medication in order to be able to work because the pain is too excrutiating and you are coming and tell us that we get on disability from the government to profit from them and that we invent all of this, well you are a pathetic,disgusting, human being, an animal would have more compassion then you, so before you make allegations like these and post them, think damn it, cause not every one is devious and bad and profits, the real people and honest people that are sick and we do not have to read, hear, nor take this shit from you. Go to hell sir and appologize to the people who have disabilities, cause we don’t ask for it and we don’t do it for the big bucks, you know maybe you are the crook here who profits from the press to say stupid things like you say. FIBROMYALGIA IS A REAL NEUROMUSCULAR SICKNESS AND HOPE YOU WILL HAVE THE UNPLEASURE OF LIVING A LIVING HELL ONE DAY. THAT’S WHAT YOU GET FROM DEVIOUS ALLEGATIONS.

Mattsays:

Jean Rostronsays:

Never wish for things, they tend to come & bite the backside ! Heres hoping ! Go the whole hog, ask for euthanasia for over 60’s, & all chronically sick people. I suggest if you got a good education, you pay back the funds you recieved immediately, as it was wasted ! I wont be buying this paper from today, whilst it employs a total moron as yourself !

Billy's Bonessays:

Billy's Bonessays:

John Gibson – You know this for a fact or are you just another anger ridden chap, with a nasty attitude. Having access to only a small lexicon you are unable to express yourself properly so you resort to unpleasant epithets and using expletives. Am I right?

WorkingMEsufferersays:

I hope that all of the people posting here are also complaining to the Sun’s editor, PPC, leveson enquiry about Rod Liddle’s article, lobbying your MPs about this disability discrimination and using as many organised protest opportunities as you can. Otherwise you are merely ranting to the converted. You don’t think that Rod will read any of the comments here, those of you who seem to be confused about where this blog is located? I have ME and working, don’t spend my time worrying about my ‘hard-earned taxes’ funding the tiny proportion of scroungers because I am more worried about the majority of ME claimants getting refused. I’ve never so much as dodged a parking fee let alone taxes. I guess that those obsessed with fraud are those who have a guilty conscience. Just fight back.

bev nuttalsays:

the story printed in yesterdays sun by you is discusting! you dont have a clue what your talking about….you need sacking!! i wont be buying your paper again you have sickened me who suffers with fibromyalgia. ..you know the made up disease. i have also posted your article on the find a cure for someone i love page.

Anonymoussays:

@John Well done – you know how to copy and paste irrelevant articles about race hate crime from Wikipedia.

Those of you claiming “discrimination”, please explain how Rod Liddle has discriminated against you. Offended you, yes; belittled your condition, yes; but how is writing a controversial article “discrimination”? By all means complain to the PCC and The Sun but please don’t devalue that word for situations where people suffer actual harm.

Anonymoussays:

He seriously needs help how dare anyone attack the disabled like that, I already get it from people out on the streets because of where I park I can’t help that I had a stroke when I was 5 and I now can’t use my left side plus I’m also epileptic I wouldn’t wish it on anyone but if anyone would like a day in my shoes they are welcome to it

Billy's Bonessays:

Whoever you are, ‘well said’ – some sanity in the midst of all this madness.

I can’t stand it when someone ‘offended’ by some one else reaches for the law, in this case irrelevant law as you say. I really thought the internet would provide a space for intelligent debate instead it is becoming a place where intolerance and vitriol are the norm.

Of course Rod Liddle courts controversy, I have read his stuff for years and I don’t always agree with what he says or how he says it but I believe in his right to say it.

Rod Liddle should make sure he knows what he is talking about, before he publishes inflammatory articles like this. He should try 21 years, with no prospect of a cure, with an illness that is like a dose of ‘flu that never got better. He should try having to fight tooth and nail to claw out of the system the benefits to which he is entitled, because of the attitudes of people like him and politicians who don’t live on the same planet as the rest of us, who don’t give a damn for those they supposedly represent – until it’s time be be re-elected, of course – and who are probably all avoiding paying the full amount of taxes on their wealth, anyway. He should try being treated like something that got stuck to the shoes of someone who picks on him, who views him as weaker and a target for bullying, because he is perceived to be too ill to stand up for himself. Rod Liddle, the next time you come down with the ‘flu – and I mean the proper, full-blown, ‘oh, God, I wish I could die’ ‘flu, not ‘man ‘flu’ – try to imagine feeling that ill for the rest of your life. That is what I have had to live with, as a sufferer of ME.

Peter austinsays:

It just proves to me that the governments propoganda attacks on the sick and disabled via the media have worked and the vast majority of ignorant people believe it.Under the new P I P proposals,which are to replace disability living allowance,I stand to lose my mobility high rate component because i can walk (in pain) 50 metres using aids.The only people who will qualify for the high rate,thus making it possible for them to own and use a car to get around is wheelchair users.Under the proposals,I won`t even be able to afford a mobility scooter let alone a car,therefore i`ll be stuck at home,reliant on other people to help me with my shopping etc.Also,under the new pipI`ll only qualify for the low rate of care component.I suffer from severe ankylosing spondylitis,crohns disease,chronis uveitis and gout,plus I have osteopena (precurser to osteoporosis) which means that a fracture in my spine won`t heal properly.I have to pay for an emergency helpline machine and bracelet and pay people to help me with the housework and shopping,not to mention keeping my lawn and garden tidy (as is in the council terms of lease of my bungalow).I`d like to see this idiot who has written this disgusting article try and cope with diseases that aren`t obvios,but debilitating.Hopefully karma will see that he becomes seriously disabled later in life,he can then think back and regret his cruel words.Gutterpress reporting by a gutterpress daily comic for the thick in my view.

Mindykatsays:

There is a group which has started on Facebook called……..Justice for people with Fibromyalgia/M.E against Rob Liddle (columinist) Please if you have either illness and would like to join the group you would be made welcome, we can not let him get away with this !!!!!!

Deesays:

Ignorance must be bliss ! You are a sad excuse for a journalist ,So you pray on the week . I wish you could walk a mile in just one of the not disabled people, You speak of . What drastic measures you take to insult something you know nothing about .Why not try sticking to something meaningful not mindless. You are blessed that your employer puts up with you ,You are sick and twisted praying on the ill . Sounds like a case of bald or short man syndrom to have to dig on the unhealthy .May you someday get the illness you speak of , Till then justice will not be served. Please feel free to contact me ,My writing skills are lacking yes .Though you need much more help then me making statements such as this .

see private Eyre report, but especially see the Spartacus report – ‘found that the number of working-age people receiving DLA,………. had remained remarkably stable.”

‘But a recent detailed study, Responsible Reform, accuses the government of consistently using inaccurate figures to exaggerate the rise in DLA claimants, while concealing the overwhelming opposition to its latest reform.

The detailed 40-page study – dubbed the Spartacus report and written and funded by disabled people – found that the number of working-age people receiving DLA, excluding those with mental health conditions, had remained remarkably stable.’

kavqcsays:

This is an absolutly disgusting article, I have suffered with Fibromyalgia as well as other problems for 6 years and I would not even wish this illness on my worst enemy. I would love to see this Rod Liddle spend 24 hours living with fibro and then see what he has to say. We have anti-discrimiantion laws in his country for sexsim rascism even disabilities, but if this article was referring to religion or ethnic minorities ther would be outrage everywhere with people screaming for an apology and retraction, but hey this article is only about disabled people with newly invented illnesses dont worry about it. Wrong we are still human and we still have feelings so how about he apologises to us.

carolsays:

I suffer from fibromyalgia and I have made a complaint to the press complaints commission, under section 1 Accuracy and section 12 Discrimination. I urge everyone else to do the same. He is a disgrace but in a way Im not surprised, given the past behaviour of the rag he wrote for, (Im also a Liverpool supporter)

Mary Henleysays:

I have fibromyalgia and still work part time. Because that is all i can handle from the pain. To say that people fake this kind of pain shows the stupidity on his part. I would give ANYTHING to go back 4 years and feel like i did before and do all the things i enjoyed before!! What a jerk!!

joannesays:

I would like to ask Rob Liddle if as a supposed respected journalist.. if he has actually researched correctly the illnesses he has reported as being “invented”. I am deeply offended.. he obviously knows little about the subject.. Fibromyalgia can be a crippling illness and is difficult to diagnose as it goes hand in hand with other symptoms and Auto immune problems .. i have had it for over 15 years .. i am also ceoliac and have osteo arthritis .. At 50 i try to remain active and have a possitive outlook on life.. But to call this invented makes my blood boil.. where are you when my “invented” illness stops me from walking or making simple tasks painful? ..I have worked all my life and it is only recently i have had to stop.. i claim ESA ..but this is under threat .. due to an appeal process that has taken 18 months to come to fruition.. i stand to lose all my benefit .. a princely sum of 65.00 per week.. and will then have to soley rely on my partner earnings ..all because so called government tests deem me to be fit for work .. when my doctors and consultants clearly think otherwise… pleae try and temper your arguements and comments to the fraudulent spongers and not the genuine people that have problems .. whether you think they are real or imagined.. by the way .. i do not get free rent .. or disablity badges.. i personally dont think i need them.. benefit is for those who need it .. its not a right . Kind Regards

Joanne burton

Maryjanesays:

Too many people assume Fibro is just muscle cramps. Its not just cramps, it is spasms too where our muscles feel as if they are being ripped from our bodies. Our skin is also over sensitive so the lightest touch feels like our skin is being burnt off with a flame thrower (that includes wearing clothes), All our joints hurt in a way you cant even imagine (they all feel as if they are broken) Our bones feel as if someone is happily drilling into them. We also get pains in our rib cage which feels like a great weight is crushing our ribs, Our extremities (hands/feet etc) feel like bad arthritis. we have no muscle strength so cant lift the lightest of objects some days. Some of us find our jaws and throat affected too so cant chew or swallow our own saliva. This is not including always feeling overheated and sitting in sweat, having awful IBS and all the problems that brings, we also have blurred vision, memory loss and confusion, difficulty getting the right words out, balance problems and lack of spatial awareness so often trip or fall, dizzyness occurs frequently, oh and dont forget the muscle jerks where one of our limbs will just jerk into the air. This is how we live daily. Can you imagine living like that? Knowing it never gets better and nothing helps. Knowing that some days you cant dress or feed yourself or wash or go to the loo alone? If we were dogs we would have been put to sleep but we are human so have to suffer daily. There is NO cure and not much understanding either. Would anyone really choose to live like this. So before you open your mouth and say “it leaves you feeling a bit peaky” and its ‘a newly invented illness’ remember that is not true. It affects the whole central nervous system which in turn affects every part of the body. It cant be seen but it is very real. . These symptoms also can cause depression. Would you not be depressed if you knew that you had to live like this every day? SO please next time before opening your mouth. THINK!! and perhaps do some ‘real research’

(This was said by another FM sufferer and I have chosen to post it with some minor alterations on her behalf and on the behalf of other FM/CFS/ME etc sufferers)

Els VHsays:

I read this “poor excuse of a man”‘s article + a few of the comments. I’m not a UK citizen. I’m from the “continent” and I can only say this: I’m horrified this article was allowed to be published. It’s spiteful, full of inaccuracies, and simply a full blown attack on disabled people.

It reminds me of what happened in Germany the other century. Remember? Bad economy? Let’s focus all our hate an a minority group! Which one is the easiest target at the moment? Jews? Coloured people? Gay people? No … Nothing to “gain” from them. Oh … the disabled! They get “benefits” !

This is simply one thing and one thing only: pure discrimination. The author of this piece of rubbish, as well as The Sun who allowed him to publish it, should both be held accountable. I’m thinking a lawsuit is totally justified in this case.

Oh, and “fraudsters”? There will always be gaps in any system. But be assured, if the UK system is what I think it is after reading the comments, “fraudsters” will be very rare. Your connecting your thoughts of “fraud” to illnesses like ME and Fibromyalgia … well, how low can you go? If you knew anything about these illnesses or knew anyone severily affected by them, you would think twice.

– People with ME have a shorter lifespan (-20yrs) and die mostly of heartfailure and cancer with percentages that are far above average. – Post mortems reveal spinal cord and brain inflammation. – Heart function is impaired – Brain imaging show bloodflow abnormalities, punctual lesions similar to MS, damage to certain parts of the brain – Genomics show abnormal gene expressions, a great deal of which are overlapping those of MS – The immune system is compromised with a few of the same characteristics found in people with HIV

How much more “real” does it have to be for you to accept that this is a very very serious illness that slowly but surely affects practically every bodily function?! Still not convinced? Well, I’m sure more than one sufferer will gladly give you a bloodtransfusion if you’re up for it.

Btw: ME is not a “new” disease. It has been well documented since the 50’s. Do your homework like real journalists do. The fact that you get paid for your kind of journalism, well, that’s the REAL FRAUD imho. I hope they fire you, I hope they sew you,.

You must a very very unhappy “man” if you’re able to even think the thoughts you have written down here. But seeing you’re the kind of man who’s seemingly able to hit a pregnant woman … well, that says it all doesn’t it?

jackiesays:

rod liddle is a discrase ive got fibro,cfs,underactive thyoid,dibetes,depresion,arthrits,and spend most days in bed as cannot move due to pain,wish you had my pain for the day ,and cant get sick benefit because of people like you,you are a complete idiot and hope you get sued or sacked

TineLsays:

Dear Rod Liddle, In Belgium it really isn’t easy to get “benefits”. People with ME or fibromyalgia usually are ignored by health insurances because of the policy that is based on UK’s psychiatrist Simon Wessely’s fraudulent findings. I know a girl who had a terrible accident, her arm needed to be reconstructed. Today she can do the same job that I can’t do anymore. She gets about a month’s wage from the insurance for years and she bought a house with it, because she also works a fulltime job. She really didn’t need that money, so I agree, there are flaws in the system. I am sick and for several years I didn’t get a proper diagnose. I tried the best I could and I still do, every day. I went back to school, because I thought it would do the trick when I would be able to do a less physically intensive job. Unfortunately the sickness got worse. The only document that says that I’m sick, is the one my doctor wrote. The Belgium government doesn’t give me any benefit. I pay my bills from social welfare , from savings and from the support I get from my family. I’ve heard that in the UK, ME patients are trying to stand up for their rights. They are raising money for biomedical research, because Wessely’s psychosocial fraud claimed the taxes. Rod Liddle, I just don’t believe that you would really like to suffer extreme pain and sickness, that you would really like not being able to do all the things you enjoy as a healthy person, that you would really want to be called a nutcase who has to cure himself,… So I hope that you wrote this column in a moment of insanity, or even as a sick joke. I also hope that you will find the courage to admit that the statement you seemed to make, was wrong. U are very welcome to open your eyes and learn what it’s really like to live with ME, fibromyalgia, or any other chronic disease. Many sufferers will be happy to share their experiences. If you didn’t know what to write about before, you now have found an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

S Brownsays:

Here is another one of my poems, first written many years ago when I was coming to terms with being in a wheelchair and needing help with everything. This poem has been changed and adapted down the years and this is the latest version I wrote:

What do you see people, what do you see? What do you think as you look down at me? Body all painful, that looks all forlorn I hear you saying, “Should not have been born!” Because I look different, all tired and worn, You cannot accept me as the supposed norm;

You with your pride and your self-centred ways forget I have feelings I try hard to relay, You make me angry, and you make me cry, I am trying to show you the reason as to why;

You believe you are above me so you do not show me the very LOVE that I need to communicate, I know you despise me because I seem different, you think I am stupid and treat me with IGNORANCE.

YES I have a mind that I try to apply, and I have the emotions you seem to deny – WHY?

You feed me and bathe me but its done out of habit, I might as well just be your bloody pet rabbit! But the cage I live in is my body full of pain, I cannot do anything and this fills me with shame;

I am more than exhausted – too tired to even live No quality of life for me, how much more can I give? I feel pain all over, and I am at a loss what to do – Oh how good it would be to be one day like you;

I ask God for his good guidance, to show me the way “Please make me better now Lord”, is all that I pray; Just give me a day free of pain is all that I ask if I may? To take off my heavy chains and live life for just one day;

As I lie down in pain, trying to sleep and to dream, Please look at me, for I am much more than I seem! I feel I am your cross that you don’t wish to bare, Because I am disabled, and reside in wheelchair;

But next time you look, please look closer and see, That I should have an identity, because I am “ME.”

S Brown: First diagnosed with fibromyalgia AND CFS 17 years ago. Bedbound for the last 10 years.

Chris Wintlesays:

Years ago I would have been furious – now I am not surprised, like others have said he’s only written it to get a reaction, he’s complete scum and we really shouldn’t lower ourselves to his standard. His ignorance is beyond belief.

Roger Daviessays:

Raging!says:

I think the editor needs a good kick up the a*** for allowing this to be printed!

I care for my husband who suffers from moderate/severe M.E, have you any idea how long it takes for sufferers of these conditions to be diagnosed? How many appointments with doctors and specialists, blood tests, scans, x-rays etc? Have you any idea how bad it feels to have benefits officials looking down their noses at you as if you’re a drain on the system just because you need help to pay the rent/mortgage because all of a sudden you’re unable to work even though you’ve worked since you left school and paid thousands upon thousands of pounds in taxes??

My husband was a very sporty person, fit, healthy, always on the go, now he can’t even play a board game without getting frustrated because he can’t concentrate!

It is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to get D.L.A for M.E if you do not suffer from it, you can tell a sufferer just by looking at them! They’re usually the ones with the grey tinge to their skin who look like they haven’t had a good sleep in 10 years, wince with pain with most movements and can’t walk 20 yards without falling over from the dizzyness! You son, are an absolute f*in di***ead!!

Hermine C.says:

TattooedMPDsays:

Is Rod Liddles looks and career slipping so quickly that he needs to write rubbish like this, The new’s of the world has gone now for writing rubbish like that. I hope that every one complains to the sun news paper and demand he gets sack along with Melanie Philips from The Mail who writes the same bigoted rubbish Rod Liddle writes.

I work full time to keep my house running and paid for without benfits, my son who is in the army helps towards our house hold bills and carers bills. Between myself and my two daughters also my son who travels home from camp we split the caring for my husband up who is bed bound with severe M.E he can not care for him, He can not walk, wash himself, eat or swallow food. We do not claim benefits so up yours Rod Liddle and I wish, hope and pray to everything above and below that you become physically and mentally disabled.

As someone who has both an MD and PhD, has studied fibromyalgia for 20 years, and has won national and international awards for my research, teaching and books, I find Rod Liddle’s comments both ignorant and hate-mongering. In my book, BREAKING THRU THE FIBRO FOG: SCIENTIFIC PROOF FIBROMYALGIA IS REAL, I quote 481 scientific studies that demonstrate not only that fibromyalgia is a real PHYSICAL disease, but that these patients are commonly the victims of mal-treatment, because of ignorant non-acceptance like Liddle espouses. Does Liddle REALLY think that ALL the answers to medical ills are known in 2012? That’s what many thought 30 years ago, when many, many patients with multiple sclerosis were NOT believed because medical technology hadn’t yet caught up enough to diagnose them. Not that llong ago, hypothyroidism also was just thought to be over-weight middle-aged women who were depressed, until the technology to test for thyroid levels was developed. Not only do we now know where the pathology is in patients with fibromyalgia, but we can SEE it on a variety of new imaging trechniques like functional MRI and SPECT scans; AND a genetic defect has been identified that is present in many families in whom the disease runs rampant. Dedicated researchers around the world have been struggling for 20 years to come to a better understanding of fibromyalgia and other similar conditions like fibromyalgia… and HAVE discovered numerous abnormalities that CANNOT be faked or manipulated. Among them are reproducible abnormalities in brain wave activity during stage 4 sleep, that correlate directly with a person’s level of pain. Unfortunately, someone like Liddle may not have enough brain wave activity present even to be tested.

In my previous comment, I meant fibromyalgia and other similar conditions, like chronic fatigue syndrome (also called myalgic encephalomyelitis). I also point out that collecting disability for conditions like fibromyalgia and CFS can be difficult and extremely demeaning to people, who are often treated with contempt by insurers, as well as their doctors, and sometimes by former friends and family. Even well-intentioned family and friends often want them just to ‘snap out of it’. If Liddle wants to walk in the shoes of the disabled to see how ‘easy’ it is, I suggest he wear shoes that are 3 sizes too small the entire time, so he can get some idea of what many fibromyalgia patients’ feet feel like.

Gloria Tubbsays:

Mr Liddle you can have my disabilities if you like, I have back, neck, knee, hip, fingers and elow pain everyday through arthritis, plus other problems. I also have a friend who has ME ampnst other things and I can assure you it’s not something I would wish on anyone. Hopefully your wish to become disabled will be granted, then you may write from a different perspective.

Kathysays:

All I can say is, walk half a block in my shoes, in my body, then you will be writing a different story here! I was once a buisness woman, wife and mother, and active, very happy and content with my life. Now, I am a prisoner in my own body and my own home! This illness has ripped my life into a million pieces…and the pain, like I said, walk a short distance in my shoes! Lets not forget about our monthly payment from SSD. Oh, that is such a wonderful thing to look forward to every month…half the wages I used to make when I worked. I know there are people out there robbing the system and shame on them. But, some of us are the real deal, unfortunatly. So, you need to get your facts straight before you publish an article like this. Shame on you Mr. Liddle!

Jane Hapnersays:

OK, I found a link on Facebook to this yellow journalisium. Well, here’s a voice from across the pond. I too have Fibromyalgia, M.E. as ‘yall call it and CFIDS and have for 18 yrs. Here in the US when I FINALLY broke down and applied for disability for the Fibromyalgia it was not distingushied as a true medical condition. I was awarded benifits for “depression”. Hell, I’ve delt with depression all my life and I was still a functioning member of the working class. August of ’94 is when I came down with something I could not shake. FM was for the most part was still a “wastebasket” disease here in the US. I had been a printer, worked in print shops, ran presses, customer service and hand set hot type. Did it all. I could take a job from start to finish and the delivery too. While sitting at work in Dallas at a very busyprint shop doing CSR, I had to bid out a carbonless paper job. Simple multiplication, been doing this for 15 yrs. Blank slate. I had no clue how to determine how many press sheets. Earlier that day I had received a raise, it was a Friday. Monday I was fired. So, Rod ‘ole PAL . Come on over to the other side of the pond and say some sh*t like that here. If you think your getting heat there? Come to La Porte, TX and talk to me, Hell hath no fury like Hapner when she’s hot.

Anonymoussays:

Anyone suffering with an illness that is long term / short term or terminal needs to have full support from employers and government, however those that choose to take on a full time job with ultimate responsibilty to our future generations need to think about this and are they being fair to their colleagues and more importantly the pupils they are expected to educate. If you are aware of your commitment restrictions just be true to yourself and your employer, then long term sick will not have to be soooooooo detrimental to the kids you are responsible for educating.

Emilysays:

Oh dear, this sad sad man is at again. Does have nothing better to do with his time , insulting people. I have the above conditions but I am not going worry over what has said in the past or in the future. I don’t have anything to prove to him or other disbelievers. My diagnoses came from fully qualified consultants specializing in these conditions. I really feel sorry for him he must be very unhappy to write such terrible things all the time, perhaps you need some therapy Mr Liddle.

A Fybro sufferersays:

How dare you, how dare you write such rubbish when you know nothing of the illness of Fibromyalgia. My husband has SUFFERED for the last 5 years with this terrible condition. He cannot walk unaided without falling down, he cannot sleep at night for the excrutiating pain. Pain relief is the only help. The only pain relief that helped him is morphine or opium which he became allergic to and now has to suffer regardless.. Why don’t you get your facts straight before making an idiot of yourself and showing yourself to be ignorant of the facts. If I were you I would put my hands together and thank the good Lord that you do not suffer from this debilitating illness. I also don’t suppose you will have the bottle to print this or to even print an apology to us and the thousands of others also afflicted. DO NOT TAR US ALL WITH THE SAME BRUSH.

Fibro Sufferer Mikesays:

This article is absolutely beyond belief! How can somebody know what daily life is like for someone with M.E., Fibromyalgia, C.F.S., etc. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2011 after struggling along for 3 years with a G.P. who did not take any notice. I still continue to work full-time to the best of my ability and I hope to continue for a good while yet. I have NEVER claimed any kind of benefit and I have been in stable employment for 17 years. Fibromyalgia is a very real condition that has had a profound affect on my personal and social life. I get through daily life with painkillers and anti-depressants to help me sleep. There is no specific scientific reason why I have this condition and there is no quick cure. I would prefer it if Liddle would keep his bigoted, small-minded opinion to himself. Shame on the editor for allowing this to be printed!

Debra Segurasays:

So let me just get this right I have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia as you say and let me just tell you I did not just get up one morning from my Job that I loved making good money with great benefits and decide oh i think i just wont work any more and just live off the very small amount of money i recieve a month in ssdi. I have worked my whole life sir I did not take a hand out i worked for the benefits i get and their are so many who are not fortunate enough to have worked so dont see how that makes you the one to judge. Yes i agree no one should abuse the sysytem and those who are truly not sick or disabled should not get benefits and have made it hard for the ones that are. But dont talk about a ring side seat to the front of the line for the plaques that have allowed us to park up close, you see its my only outting if i walk to far my legs give out yes i may look fine on the outside but that does not mean i am not sick. You do not see me cry my eyes out in pain and suffer , you do not see me when i can barely move in a flare, or when my head hurts so bad that it feels like it will explode, or how about the ibs and cant eat anyplace for fear of using your pants so dont tell me about fake illness of fibromyalgia, because to be quite frank you could not handle it there are milions effected by this aweful disability thats right disability and instead of making fun of it or cutting the people like us down you should be helping to educate others about it!Guess you was never taught any manors where your from right much less respect of your fellow human beings . There is so much uglyness in the world already why do you have to add to it. I live my life trying to stay postive because you see mr fake disability i have lost many of my firends to suicide because the pain was just to much we dont need people like you tearing us down we suffer enough so go write about trash dumps or sewage plants if you want to be ugly cause they stink , people like us suffer and are kind caring loving people who just want our lives back and would gladly given the chance to be normal and pain free and sympton free get off disabilty cause its not the gold brick road you think and im sure others would share the handy cap toilet with you if you having trouble reaching or would just like a higher one such jealousy over the disabled wow doesnt make you seem like a very nice person i will pray for you and forgive you have a blessed day ok.

johnsays:

We where told that every one has to do there bit to get this country back on its feet, but they don’t want the sick and disabled just to do there bit they want to strip all benefits from them. Now they want to cap all households to £26000, most of these MPs are worth millions but I bet that if they have children they still claim for them, they fiddle the tax man to, then they fiddle there expenses forms. They are the scroungers the burden on society, when are they going to do there bit to help get this country back on its feet. Whey don’t they abolish MPs expenses forms give back there second Holmes that they have claimed for, stop family tax credits and working tax credits for anyone that is fortunate enough to have a job. Whey don’t they stop giving out contracts to firms such as atos and the rest worth in excess of one hundred million pounds a year just to strip the sick and disabled of there benefits. Why don’t they put this cash to better use open some factory’s supermarkets, pump it into the health service. They should put there own house in order first before attacking the sick and disabled, they shouldn’t say we all have to do are bit unless they are prepared to do the same. Stop wasting cash on the drug addicts no one told me to become a drug-addict why should they get DLA for something that is self inflicted. If people are going to point the blame then point it in the right direction.

I would give this illness “”FIBROMYALGIA” up for my life back and no tablet’s i hate my life i hate me and most of all i hate the person or people who say that it is nothing i wish i could get up on a morning and have a shower and wash my hair and get dry and put my hair up and come down stair’s and make a cup of tea and my breakfast now rewind go back to getting out of bed i can just the say lift myself up the shower is out the window as it is too cold fot my body i shiver uncontrolable and then there is washing my hair i cannot get my hand’s up to wash it or to put a band in or pin it up husband does it for me then there is drying myself ha husband does it for me come down stair’s on my bum make a cuppa tea hubby does it as my hand’s are swollen and the pin’s and needles make it i cannot feel my hand;s proper and then there is stand the pain i get in my leg’s hip’s and back i have to bend over the bench to help with the pain that is just getting out of bed down the stair’s some times it get’s you so bad the pain i just cannot move the pain is that bad and i would not wish that on anybody so if he would like this FIBRIMYALGIA /ME he can have mine as that little bit i have told you is not half of it

TERRY WILLIAMSsays:

Well Rod Liddle just who the hell do you think you are ???? I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia just over 2 years ago and lost my job because of it. I’m 41 yrs old and ex forces and the last time I was out of a job was 16yrs old. My children are looking after me instead of me looking after them. Doctors dish out pills left right and centre trying to help us cope with the level of pain. The fact that we can no longer be the person we once was, the pain kills me when I want to hug my children. Due to the amount of drugs I have now put on weight and proved that it was not my diet it is the drugs. Even though we are kind of lucky in the way that fibromyalgia want kill us but we have to cope for the rest of our days with the unbareable pain and the fact that I cant do anything myself I’m a burden to my kids. The worst thing of all is that my daughter may now be sufferring and this disorder is very much REAL. Do you know someone who has this disorder and know what they were like before they bercame ill because if not then I strongly suggest that you visit a support group near you and RE-EDUCATE yourself. Your just plain rude and ignorant even people who have chronic fatigue or evem M.E they have just as much of a right to be recognised as we do. If the government took away the stress of working all hours and pressure employees are under then they have to go home to look after their home and family especially women who have children and those single parent fathers out there have to carry on working when they get home. We put so much pressure on our bodies we tire them out and never have the time to unwind and relax. I never asked for this I had swine flu then my body just started to pack up piece by piece I tore my ligaments just going down the stairs at home and for weeks my doctor sent me to A&E to be xrayed and all i got on severall occassions Of course your in pain you have fibromyalgia and never liste4n to me when I tried to tell them the pain was different eventually I ended up with reaasonable sized P.E in both lungs and had to stay in hospital just over a week. We need to be taken seriously and people need to listen more. Its easy to hear someone talk but to actually listen to what they are saying to you takes some skill. If I could have my old life back I would love to and in my head on a good day feel like I have but them I try my level best to get out of bed then stand my head realises I have no change to have my old life back. You start visiting our groups you will then wbe expected to give an apology to all sufferer’s

Jamiesays:

Might I just start with if ugly was a disability then sir you should collect the whole damn stash of disability!!!!!! Then lets get serious here you attack people with ME or Fibro as if you know anything about living life with these illnesses, well I do I have Fibromyalgia. I suffer daily and push through with adversity and I do not receive a dime from the government because my husband works at General Motors we survive. I am a student and I am working on my PhD so sir do not dare stand here and tell me that people with disabilities do not feed the economy, look outside your ugly little box and you can figure it out. As far as your belief they just hand out money freely then you are delusional, we have to fight for years to get any kind of help. The money is barely enough for us to live on if we do get it, and hey jackass you ever took an economics class at your community college, pretty sure that’s about all you’ve seen! If you took one you would know it is our own money we pay in and receive when we finally win we give most to our lawyers. You are a disgrace of a human being and anybody who would talk the way you do about people needs to find god, have you ever heard of a place called church, get in your yellow pages and find one!

Sheila Wsays:

I wish that these people who talk about FM like it is a fake disease could walk a mile in my shoes for one day, I would gladly give up my pain to them for one day so they could see just how “FAKE” it is! I absolutely love how people can judge someone for having something you can’t see. Would you say that someone who had cancer was faking just because you couldn’t see it? Would you say that someone who has diabetes is faking it because you can’t see it? What about High blood pressure, Lupus, arthritis, degenerative disc disease? Well before you start talking about something not being real you need to do some research!

Rod Liddles comments are a disgrace.Did he not think to reasearch this subject….No,because he isnt areal reporter,he is a lazy get that couldnt be bothered and wrote a load of crap off the top of his head.Basicaly he is an ignorant little shit.I worked my arse off holding down two jobs and bringing my young family up when ME struck.I spent two years in bed and although my condition has improved i am still very limited with what i can do….8 years of my life have been robbed from me AND my family.I have never claimed benefits in my life till ME took my life.I WANT AN APOLOGY FOR ME AND MY FELLOW SUFFERERS,but i wont hold my breath because you obviosly are thick as pig shit.

rod liddel do you know what you are talking about? have you researched fibromayalgia? have you asked the sufferers about it? have you even asked any doctors about the illness seeing how your making them out stupid ! do you know what our lives consist of?? PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN! never a bloody break from it! crying in pain constantly! taking countless cocktails of pills per day just to try an get rid of the pain which you never can do! go to the doctors to get help you get handed more painkillers! nothing more they can do for you an also its just ‘trial and error’ if they work bonus.. if they don’t bummer! what do you do then????? no where for help you just have to cope! what about when you are having an episode of hypersensitivity you cant even give your 5 year old a cuddle its to soar to be touched! they don’t understand how could she at 5! also when your children ask you to come out an play with them you cant your too bloody soar! its heartbreaking an then………DEPRESSION! an you try to say we choose to claim to have a disability so we can claim benefit for it? i don’t think so!i think we would all like to have our health be ‘normal’ rather than have benefits! an where do you get the idea you can just decide one day you will claim benefits for it an get it? eh not! we have to fight tooth an nail for any benefits! an at least 14+ weeks for a decision which will normally be you don,t qualify for DLA Get a grip man you don’t ken what your on about i wouldn’t wish this illness on anyone but id make an exception for you then see what you would say then? would it be one of those new found illnesses eh eat your words then!

R.henrysays:

I must agree with ‘Anonymous’. Getting Disability Benefits easily has been widespread until now and hopefully this govt. will have proper inspections to eradicate the many claimants who really can work. However, who can blame these people if the system was so lax ? A typical example was right in my own house when I let a flat to a mother of 2 teenagers. In order to get housing benefit, she made visits to various consultants to be diagnosed with arthritis in the spine. She did suffer some pain, much like many fit people, but lead a completely normal life, driving her children to school and back 16 miles each day and the usual housework. But worse, the admirable devotion to her 4 very large dogs showed no bounds. They were walked long distances in the countryside at least 4 times a day and having bought a caravan, drove hundreds of miles to dog shows all over the country in the estate car her boyfriend had bought for her. At this stage, not realising she was on DLA, I was pleased when a brand new Vauxhall, costing 10,000 pounds, arrived which she parked next to her own and regularly her boyfriend’s. It turned out it was her ‘motability’ car which she automatically was entitled to in place of extra payments. I was quite horrified at her behaviour, since she was clever and clearly able to work, even on a computer at home. If the system is tightened, let’s hope genuine disabled people, who I think receive very little help, can have some of these illgotten gains diverted to them in future.

jaci masonsays:

I would like to wish Mr Liddle the experience of an illness such as Fibromyalgia or ME but I doubt if this would assist his knowledge as any benefits he were able to claim would simply add to the heaps of money he has ‘earned’ in his ‘b’ ship writing job – producing nothing of any use to anyone! So he would not need to try to actually live on welfare benefits.

I have been an NHS nurse for 30+years and, in common with Mr. Liddle and bankers, do not make a tangible product. We nurses, along with many other workers, do not get paid the sort of money during our working lives that allows us to build up heaps of funds to fall back on. When we lose our jobs because our condition makes us too slow to meet the ‘targets’ for the number of patients visited or attended to (rather than any quality of care given), we have no choice than to rely on welfare benefits if we have not been able to pay enough contributions to qualify for a good pension; bearing in mind that the likes of Mr Liddle, with his prodigious literary talent, wouldn’t put pen to paper for that sort of money.

Of course, we could all just be put out of our misery, which would save a lot of money for ‘Great Britain plc.’ although, to be fair, I think this course of action should be taken on the grounds of diagnosis rather than accumulated funds.

keith huddysays:

He should not tar everyone by the same brush !just be cause some are abuseing the system it is totaly disrespectful (if not hurtful) for those who have to live with disability to be reported in this way ,quite irrisponsable and arogant writeing on his part.

He should be attacking the apathetic lazy goverment departments who have been allowing this to happen in the first place, as the only scroungers in the system are the ones who are employed in it! and are content for more abuse of the system as this keeps their own jobs safe.

Sue Brownsays:

I am a sufferer of Fibromyalgia, Cervical Spondylitis, Athritis and other related issues. I have had this for nearly 8 years and worked up until three and half years ago. I am sixty next year….I can tell you over the last eight years I have suffered with so much chronic pain. Unless you have suffered pain like it, it is not understood. I would never be able to put it into words. This reporter does not have a clue and if he suffered our pain for a day would realise what it is really like. As for made up illnesses if I had to choice between work and being ill…..I would still be working I can assure you. Live with my pain Mr Liddle and you would definitely have a different view

D Davissays:

How dare he say Fibromyalgia isn;t real I have had this illness for 8 years and he think i am fake it, I wish I am in pain 24/7 and I need my mam to help me , I can’t cook for myself or drink ….. this make my blood I have trouble sleeping i would kill for a night sleep and go out normal and not be in pain walking no one buy this stupid paper what with people attack the disable why can’t we all get a long bloody govement pick on the weak onces …… and did anyone vote them in nooooooooo !!!!!!! don’t get me started about benfits it took me nearly 2 years to get esa final I won last week 🙂

Ternsays:

I am what probably is meant by one of these “newly invented illnesses”, except that I’m still suffering from the life disasters inflicted before it was recognised – Asperger syndrome. The same system that gets folks disability benefits has also got me part time work, something the Jobcentre never ever did during dole periods. Signifcantly also, the self-service applying through the jobcentre, with the capitalist idea that you have to sell yourself, never works for most and never worked for me, but having a service to match you to a job and sell you to them works so well that its lack of use for 2 centuries has been a class crime. I also was a kid whose experimenting on by greedy right wing teachers for high achievement Liddle reported on in his local paper days in Wales back in 1980. Its outcome was disastrous and not reported on, nowhere at all to air the consequences of being a citizen experimented on until the asperger scene came along. So he is now objecting to the system who got me my present job also putting right the wreckage of something he personally helped cause me to suffer.

Stephen James Mooresays:

How right you are. I wondered if I had been making up all these debilitating symptoms for the past twenty years. Now, thanks to your article, I realize that I have been the victim of my own inventions. Gone are the chronic muscle pains, headaches, brain fog, irregular sleep patterns, heart palpatations, blurred vision etc.

Now that you have helped me so much, please allow me to offer some advice.

Go after the real enemy here. How about exposing fraudulent health care professionals who prostitute themselves to the drug companies? What about Big Pharma who have never healed anyone, ever, and offer nothing but added complications to already complicated conditions? Investigate the insurance companies who spend millions on crooked doctors just so they do not have to pay genuine claims. Look at how many massage therapists who siphon insurance claim pounds for a useless back rub or worse excessive back cracking.

In a nutshell you are blaming the wrong people. What your article did to Fibro & M.E. sufferers and other disabled was callous and downright cruel. In a moment of evil intent I could wish that you yourself suffered from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome. However I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.

lucy lsays:

kerrysays:

To all of those who have commented above, (please bare in mind I have only read a few) I think you should take a glance at a different perspective. The way i’ve just read this article suggests to me that whoever has written it is trying to portray that there are people out there who just use and abuse this system, and there are infact people who PRETEND to have a disability of a sort to claim in this way. My dad is disabled from an accident at work over 10 years ago now yet he still has 2nd hand cars, doesnt have new clothes very often and doesnt spend out on luxuarys but once in a blue moon. However, we know of a woman who lives not far from us who claims to be disabled, cannot work and who is wheelchair bound, chasing her son around the garden (on two legs I might add). She also claims for a new car every so often due to her “dissability”. These sort of people are the ones I believe the article portrays.

Scandalousbillsays:

You are sadly mistaken. Liddle states that the rate of bogus disability claims is 80%, all available statistics, including those of the DWP, note that the rate of fraudulent claims for disability is below 0.5%, and this has been consistent from the Major Conservative government to the present day.

Liddle is well aware of these statistics and intentionally misleads to incite what he hopes will be public distain on people who are extremely venerable and, with their families and loved ones, suffer severe hardships. The man is a coward as well as a bigoted pig.

Louisesays:

Rod Liddle is not a human being. You should be so ashamed of yourself. The sun should hang their heads in shame too. He should research before he writes in future before embarressing himself they way he has. I have M.S and again another illness with a stigma attached. Yeah sometimes i may look healthy but people can’t see pain can they? ME and Fybro is not an invented illness it is very real and people are suffering sometimes if not ain scilence. You don’t see the suffering on the streets because people who are suffering in great pain and other symptoms can’t get out and about. Rod liddle, yep you live my life for a day in pain, unable to move , sleep disturbance fatigue the shakes vision impairment hearing loss. Rod do you wish to be pushed around in a wheelchair by your own child? something my child should not have to do. Rod you wish to live off a piitence because your career has stopped and there is no way you would be able to climb the career ladder ever again? Don’t forget Rod the adaptations you will have to put in your home and you don’t get that for free no you would have to use your carers allowence of your DLA. Rod Liddle you are a first class prize PR*CK!

Not so narrow mindedsays:

Well, just for a refreshing change, may I ask how many of you “incensed of …. ” types have actually read the article?? May I respectfully suggest you read it IN FULL before remarking. The excerpts shown above are incendiary and inflammatory, but they DO NOT REFLECT THE ESSENCE OF THE ARTICLE., nor of the point he is making.

Allow me to note the single most important statement of the entire article “”More than anything, the people fraudulently claiming sickness benefit are doing a disservice to those who really deserve it; the people who are truly disabled or ill”.

Did any of you see that statement? THIS is the crux of what was being said and described. I agree 100% that there are more suitable ways to word and craft an article like this – but are ANY of you seriously suggesting that there are no benefit frauds going round? In which case something needs doing about it.

Do not be so myopic, actually READ and DIGEST an article that appears so bad – if it is on a site like this, it is being posted to cause inflammation and reaction – make sure you look into it more before you sound off like the moron you feel him to be. Review and see what other there may be – and certainly don’t believe every single little thing you read or hear on the internet; you are wise enough to be a skeptic about the media; TV, newspapers and radio; so why not be as mistrusting of websites…

Andrea Lousays:

M.E and Fibromyalgia has ruined my life! A bit peaky?! I was 16 years old when Epstein Barr virus ended my life as I knew it. through my 17th year I didn’t leave my bed for 6 months and layed in a dark room thinking I had a brain tumour through the pain in my head and eyes. Now 32 years old, I have no job, no money, no husband, no kids, no career, am unable to go on holiday, unable to go out with friends. All my lifes dreams and goals have never been in grasp. I wanted to be a vet, I wanted to get married and have kids, I want to go to Canada, I want to go to America, I want to go to madame tussauds, I want to walk around London for the day, I want to go on the London eye, I want to go to party’s, I want to be able to go shopping for 4 hours, I want alot of things which I can’t have and they are just basic everyday things! Instead, this is how my days have been for as long as I can remember 15 years? Sleep 16 hours, wake up in pain in my back, neck, knees, arms, hands, in fact every place you can think of. Sit in silence for an hour to wake myself up. Have a bit of time watching tv, only for an hour though because it tires me out too much that I have to have a lie down. Try to get out of bed, alot of the time I am just too tired so I have to stay there for the 10 hours I am awake and try to keep myself occupied. I have to then cook myself something for dinner, eat, clean up the kitchen, have a little time on facebook because that is my only social life, watch a dvd and then go to bed and then after 12-16 hours start my mundane daily routine again. This has been my life pretty much from the age of 16 to 32.

DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS A FUN LIFE? DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT I DO THIS TO AVOID GOING TO WORK? DO YOU REALLY THINK THE £400 A MONTH I GET ON BENEFIT IS ENOUGH TO LIVE ON? AND BECAUSE I GET £400 PER MONTH I CAN APPARENTLY AFFORD TO PAY FOR THE 7 PRESCRIPTIONS A MONTH I HAVE TO HAVE, PAY FOR GLASSES AND DENTAL TREATMENT WHICH I HAVEN’T HAD BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO GO. SO MY TEETH ARE DECAYING AND TOOTHACHE IS NOW ANOTHER DAILY AILMENT I HAVE TO CONTEND WITH.

F*** YOU ROD LIDDLE! TRY LIVING IN OUR SHOES FOR JUST A WEEK OF YOUR PERFECT LIFE, AND YOUR LIFE IS PERFECT COMPARED TO MINE AND MANY OF US. THEN TELL US WOULD YOU REALLY LIKE TO GIVE UP YOUR JOB AND LIFE JUST SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORK AND YOU TRY LIVING ON £400 PER MONTH AND SEE HOW FAR YOU GET! WHILE YOU ARE AT IT, TRY BEING IN PAIN ON A DAILY BASIS, TAKE AWAY YOUR OWN FREEDOM, YOUR LIFES DREAMS AND GOALS, YOUR DIGNITY AND THEN THINK BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH NEXT TIME!

dalesays:

Who the hell does this man think he is to say that those illnesses are just invented yes i agree that there are too many people that are falsly claming where us the so called checks on health the goverment are supposed to be doing i had to fight for 6 months and had to go without any money for that time yet i know there are people out there that have a so called bad back and yet these people dont get hounded as much as i do :(.

For this muppet to say this just goes to show he is well off with lots of money because it only seems to be those types that can say this these people should try living with illnesses they would soon realise there narrow minded comments are pathetic if he wants to do somthing make it so all these people with bad backs are watched so they can catch them out doing work .

The guy needs to get his facts right the benefit culture was the child of Margaret Thatcher. In order to hide all the people from coal mines and shipyards etc and industry they ended up on sickness benefits to hide the unemployment figures.

They created the problem as a free market economy which worships money (the city) and only cares about profits for the few means lot;s of people have no other choice but to claim benefits.

After all there are not enough shitey underpaid jobs to go around !

Hobbly.says:

Oh come on folks. Of course Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS is real. We all know that…………….But this is “The Sun” Its always dragging out C*** like this. It caters for a certain type of reader, when they can’t find another comic!!

lelsays:

i am behond words really. I have had to give up a well paid job I loved and put my family into financial peril due to contracting fms. Six years on I’m beyond depressed and feel especially sad for my two children who have grew up with a mum who has to fight this every day as well as constant migraines.you feel like you are failing as a wife mother daughter friend – on sooooo many levels. Perhaps it would be best if we just all topped ourselves? lets face it we feel like it half the time living as we do and that would just eradicate the problem? think of the saving to the government ? Im sure our friends and families would be better off without us and again thats how we feel anyway most of the time . I paid my taxes for20 years most of it at 40% before i had to claim any benefit and what i recieve is meagre . I always said i wouldnt wish this condition on anyone but today i take that back !!!

sarajsays:

I’ve just posted this on facebook with my comments: Newly invented illness – I would absolutely LOVE this man to be struck down with Fibro or M.E. and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy normally! I feel pretty good in the last week but when my symptoms are flaring up its indiscribably hard to live with, do normal household chores, drag my sick and aching body in to work, keep track of the world around me as my brain becomes more and more scrambled and confused with “fog” and keep a loving relationship with my husband who is the only person that ever sees me at my worst!!!! This man needs pulling down a peg, yes there are ppl that claim benefits / disability fraudulently but let me tell you one thing, Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS are not newly invented, they are just invisible and difficult to diagnose and treat because not much is known about them….a bit like MS used to be….oh and by the way Rod “ignoramous” Liddle, I don’t claim benefits, I’m killing myself trying to keep a job and there are ppl with this condition much more severe than me!!!!

poppydsays:

I am sat here unable to change my nappy as i have not got any help I will give Rod Little my used ones in his quest. he can have all my illnesses if he will swap his good health I am tired of reading about how people hate people who are disabled fed up of having no dignity feeling unworthy I am unable to shower do all the basic things you all take for granted I am struggling to find a reason to carry on. the government and the press have painted being disabled as scroungers and fakes no one beliefs use any more we are now classed as the scum of the earth i wish i could be normal to be able to walk do all the things you take for granted and keep my dignity to feel i am of worth not to be sat here in my own excrement trying to find the energy to change myself it takes so long and is very painful then find the energy to do the next task. just don’t no what else to say

Jan Cliffordsays:

If The Sun is the voice of the nation, why would they allow a very small minded man like Rod Liddle to have his uneducated, unjust, unprofessional and non-factual imbecilic thoughts printed in it’s paper?

Can The Sun tell me if it is their normal work ethic to employ staff who act in this disparaging way or is it just personal stimulation for Rod Liddle?

Janetsays:

Hmmm, Rod Liddle… what a surprise, says something controversial and ill informed, and most of all unfunny, nothing new there then. As I remember his article said he may invent one of these invisible illnesses to claim benefit, stating Fibromyalgia as one of them. My answer to this is, I would fully support Mr Liddle in developing Fibromyalgia or any of the other chronic invisible illnesses he quoted, in order to ‘gain benefits.’ I couldn’t think of a nicer guy this could happen to, (someone so apparently ignorant of the torturous symptoms, of these conditions). “Here’s to you Mr Liddle, if developing Fibromyalga, to ‘claim benefit’ is what you request, I say it couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke!

I say to everyone of these brave individuals who have watched their previous productive lives of having a purpose in life through their work, and sporting life, disappear to having no choice but adapting to a chronic and torturous condition like Fibromyalgia, symptoms of which include, long term relentless pain, insomina and fatigue; take very little notice of what this man has to say.

On a few occasions, I have read his ‘contribution’ to the Sun, and his article is unfunny and male chauvinistic, he basically fits a very unflattering stereo type. ( I hope your enjoying the taste of your own medicine Mr Liddle).

The Sun needs to get with the times and sack this man who fits the ‘comedy’ era of people like Jim Davidson, or Chubby Chase. No stranger to controversy, but give me Frankie Boyle any day of the week, a comedian of far greater intelligence and who is actually funny in my view, he doesn’t always get it right, but I do enjoy reading his column, and he does have the awareness that swallowing his ego, and having the ability to take the mickey out of himself is a must have in comedy. We need someone to make us laugh during some part of our day, when we suffer with these conditions, not someone who constantly seeks attention to boost his own ego from demeaning the lives of genuine people. Sack Mr Liddle his past his ‘sell by’ date.

Truth Seekersays:

Rod Liddle should be sacked immediately for inciting hatred against disabled people. I am a chronic fibromyalgia sufferer, for which I do not get help or support. He gets more money than I do for producing verbal diarrhoea. He can also have the fibromyalgia I go through every day. Constant pain and flu symptoms etc. Liddle is all that is wrong with the press today. Distorts the truth, and appeals to the haters in this society. Before this idiot blasted off he should have done his research. Narcissistic arseholes of bosses like Rod Liddle are the ones that cause health problems in employees as they are heartless, selfish, nasty, spiteful, evil, cruel and have no empathy for anybody. So I suggest that his mental emotional 5 year old self disappear as we are sick and tired of his insults and his HATE VENDETTA AGAINST THE DISABLED.

John Larvinsays:

Oh yes, being disabled is so fashionable. That is why a prominent media outlet has devoted space to attacking them on a regular basis (this from the same rag that prints every grubby story about elderly folk with back pain going on days out, in an attempt to discredit all disability benefits).

Oh wait a second…

Craig Colemansays:

I just wondered what planet Rod Liddle hails from? If he thinks that what the moron Joey Barton did in the final game of the season at Manchester City is very clever and “funny”, then he should never be allowed to write another word for public perusal! Whether we like it or not, these overpaid prima donnas are actually role models for our youngsters. My grandson has just started coaching with a local club, and if I thought he would turn out anything like that idiot, who incidentally, I think should be banned for life at no cost to his club, then I’d be very disappointed! Also, you like him being rude to Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer, etc? Well, I’ve had a decent upbringing, and nobody should be rude to anyone else! I may be old fashioned, but National figures like the ones he mentioned in his column of May 17th 2012, should be revered and respected, not slagged off by idiots and endorsed by an obviously even bigger one! They are true Ambassadors. You should never have another word printed!

BackPainSuckssays:

After reading this I can’t help but wonder why its so easy for people to fake these injuries/illnesses. I have a bulged/fractured disc I got as a result from a fall onto asphalt. Little did I know I also have degenerative disc disease, so even more pleasant for me to deal with. With having three bulged discs, one so severe that it is barely hanging on in my spine. It first was on the left side when I fell, then I got into an accident where we were t-boned and I was on the passenger side where we got hit, so it made the disc move on over to the right side, and now I have severe pain daily, and when I don’t have the pain I worry something else has gone wrong now. I can’t work, because I can’t sit/stand/walk too long and I doubt a employer is going to be thrilled with me having to get up every 15 minutes or so to take a short walk to not be in so much pain. I have just finished my Associates degree, which is right now a complete waste of the time and effort I spent getting it because I can’t even use it right now. People who manage to fake back injuries just make it so much harder for those of us that have a true injury and because we can use our arms, hands, brains and mouth we are deemed able to work, even though as disability will word it, that you may suffer some discomfort due to the sitting you will be able to continue working as your previous job listed as an auditor. They don’t know what we suffer through daily and just because we have the use of those things mentioned doesn’t mean we don’t have a lack of concentration or numbness in our hands and fingers, which I do occasionally because of the one disk in my upper back that is bulged.

JUDY THORNHILLsays:

I am disabled and I certainly never thought of it as being “fasionable.” I have thought of it as more of being an outcast. Who in their right mind would desire to be disabled? I, as others have said, would love to be able to go out and have a successful career, but that has not been in the cards for me. I have tried with all my might to do so. I have struggled with shame, depression, anxiety, and other negative emotions because of my circumstance. The only thing that gets me through it is knowing that God loves me just as I am, and he makes no mistakes. He has a purpose for my life and I seek to find and fulfill it to the best of my ability. There is so much lack of understanding of some disabilities, especially by those who have no clue what it is like, those who have the ability to succeed in the eyes of the world. Getting disability benefits is not an easy pursuit. It has been over a year that I have been trying to receive disability benefits, and the struggle goes on while we are getting by on my husbands mediocre salary, for which I am grateful. Compared to some people in this world I would be considered rich, most of my needs are being met. As usual, those who defraud the government, dishonest, uncaring people of this world who make it hard for the good, honest ones. Perhaps one of the reasons that more people are applying for disability is because, I think, families used to care for their own more. If one was sickly and couldn’t work, the others picked up the slack, at least in some cases. Also as the person above mentioined, the numbers would include those who have come out of the wars disabled.

Ellissays:

He’s clearly never tried to apply for money from the government. It’s not as easy as saying “i has sore back, i needs moneh” they make you see an occupational therapist, they want letters from your GP, they want all your medical records, etc. sure there’s people who abuse the system for pot and beer money, but what about the people abusing the single parent payment thing by popping out babies just to get paid?

Kangastusays:

amandasays:

came across this article by chance- bizarr- ihave had m.e. 16 years was fine before- life turned into nightmare.

diagnosed by v.g hospital- said i was text book case, can barely function , continuallt being harrased by dss. -its is making me v worried- here’s the hiarious thing- i was a secondary school teacher- loved my job wld have done it for nothing- i have lost 1,000s and 1,000s of pounds by not working oh yeah, & totally aware that in part due articles such this 80/90% country think am liar/scum mad- is not right.

amandasays:

what i said about my m.e etc is true but i tried to delete it after- not comfortable putting post on site with some of posts being not nice. being dismisve about illenss not gd- but some posts said hope he gets something wrong…- thats not righr either- so just want to say- althogh i disagree with article- wish writer no harm (and if site can- could they delete both this post and post above, from same adress? thankyou)

Mary Lousays:

Those who fake illness do the biggest disservice to those of us who have to live with these types of conditions every day (and night). Then there are those who look at the fakers, and assume we’re all like that.

My heart goes out to all those who have to live with these hidden disabilities. Some people just hate us because they don’t understand, or even fear it may happen to them. But be strong and realize that there are a lot more who don’t hate us. Many just don’t understand what we go through. Public education and awareness are so important.

K Lsays:

Hi Rod, allow me to make your wish come true. I would like to donate my condition. It’s a good one – it’s called Ankylosing Spondylitis and there’s a side order of SAPHO Syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. I’m being generous with my gift to you, so you can truly get the flavour of pain rated at 9/10; stiffness and fatigue (your body tries to repair itself with sleep, but guess what you can’t whoooo hoooo); countless blood tests; time off work to the point that you wonder if you’ll ever go back. There’s the unpredictable joy of having to rush to the toilet soon after eating, and the indecision of which end to aim at the porcelain first. Hey, but you’ll cope. Oh, then there’s the drugs – everybody loves drugs now don’t they, oh and if you are working you get to pay for your prescriptions too. There is the fun of discovering that one NSAID after another does nothing, then to be shunted onto Sulfasalazine and methotrexate (chemo drug, but hey no sweat for a big guy like you), then when they don’t work you have to take time off work for an infusion that can only be done in the hospital, and when that doesn’t work your onto the antiTNF drugs which you have to inject yourself. You’ll love having to explain to friends and family why you have cancel last minute, and there’s the sympathetic treatment you receive if you need to cancel travel arrangements at short notice, not to mention the generosity of the public who feel that their shopping/feet/entitlement to deny you a seat on the train because the kicker is “but you don’t look ill” . That dear Rod is what I wholeheartedly wish you, so that you can experience it, and that is what I wholeheartedly wish myself to be free of. Enjoy!!!

Anonymoussays:

Yes….people fake all sorts of things. Obviously not everyone is honest. I mean take a look at yourself!!! If you are soooo sure that so many people who claim disability benefits are lying…put some hidden cameras in some of their homes when they don’t know anyone’s watching and see just how much they are faking you fool! You can start with my house. Now I’m not saying that there aren’t people receiving disability fraudulently. There definitely are. But there are some who need it but can’t get it.

It doesn’t sound to me that this is all about the people who really don’t deserve disability benefits. It sounds like to me that you are using that as an excuse to insult those of us who have to deal every single day with not only the pain but also the criticism and hatred that jackasses like yourself and anyone who has your mental illness….er….uh…mentality give to us. Just who the hell gave you the authority and/or the know how to decide if people really are in pain, completely exhausted all the time from just doing everyday activities if they can bear it, etc. or are just faking it?!

It’s people like you, my dear, who bring up this kind of stuff and get people all riled up. For what? I bet you were bullied in school for being the little shit that you are (yes…it was apparent even at a young age that you were a dipshit!) and now behind your pen and paper you throw nasty accusations at people who have done absolutely nothing to YOU to make sure you can (if that’s even possible) make yourself feel good about yourself or vindicated. Oh yeah…don’t forget about beating up on pregnant women. That makes you a big “man” too. Doesn’t it? Let me guess, that was also pretend.

I wouldn’t wish the pain that I live with on anyone permanently. But I would love to be able to MAKE you and your followers suffer with everything I suffer with daily until you sincerely understood that this stuff is NOT made up. And when you strayed away from remembering how much pain you were in (and you will because that’s just the idiot you are) I would love to be able to give it to you again. And again and again until you physically can NOT take it anymore only for you to find out that you still have it – until you FINALLY got it through that thing you call a brain that this is real…and very painful and exhausting. Sadly, I can only dream about it though.

As was said above….karma baby. It’s a BITCH! So be on the lookout for something very unpleasant to come your way. Enjoy!

sam westsays:

tharasays:

And being disabled is incredibly fashionable. Dear Mr Rod Liddle- that is a load of crap. Being disabled is not ‘fashionable’. The majority of the disabled are outcasts. Yes outcasts. You also make the ridiculous claim that it has become easier to claim those benefits, partly as a consequence of the disablement charities who, out of their own self-interest, insist that an ever-greater proportion of the population is disabled.”

Umm the charities dont just say that out of self interest, you know. They say that because it is true. I think your article was a completely unacceptable insult against the disabled section of society.

Completely disgusted.

wrenaverysays:

I have had ME since 1989 that I know of for sure. Now, at age 60, I have days when I can barely get to the bathroom. I have been crippled by this disease to the point that it is physically visible and I spend most of the time in a wheelchair, being wracked with pain and spasms. ALEX, I do not now, nor have I ever had to battle with depression. I was a dancer and runner and raised 3 kids on my own, working full time, before this hit me. You are very uneducated on this issue. Perhaps reading comments might help. This is no new disease, and it doesn’t make you ‘a bit peaky’. Small children get this disease and live their lives in a darkened room in bed. People die. Get a clue.

Terri Msays:

Ive bee very sick with chronic pain for about 8 years now, and things are not getting better but worse.. Sometimes I feel so much bodily pain that I cry, or truly believe that I am dieing. I can’t work in this shape, and do not claim any sort of benefits (and without my loving partner, and family.. don’t even know how I would manage..). Every year at certain times I get tired of the constant agony and wish that it would all end.. I pray that I die.. I have seen the true colors of people, after inheriting or developing whatever condition causes my pain. And to be honest.. I did not like what I was seeing.. I was in immense pain, being told that it was all in my head and that I was making it up for attention. And not once or twice, all the time.. What the hell gives anyone the right to demean a person like that? I am so fed up with all of these people, and this society… This all makes me sick to my stomach..

mini driversays:

what a complete and utter idiot !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this stupid man needs to live in my shoes for a week and then tell me its all made up. I have worked all the way from 15 years old until I had my first child at 25 Iam certainly no way lazy, my husband works and I have to deal with fibro and 2 kids, one of which who is autistic ( I suppose that will be a made up illness next) and the only scroungers I can see in this country is the government and idots like this picking on the sick and disabled. I have this idot has to deal with a disability like this one day, there is no way this man can imagin the pain this illness causes

Rosemarysays:

Hey, Ron Liddle. I have fibromyalgia, one of those “new diseases” you talked about. I’d like you to experience the everyday pain I experience, do everything I have to do in a day, and then see how you feel about my disability. I’m pretty sure you’d never make it through the morning.

Eddiesays:

In as far as his comments in regards to being disabled to be the new fashion I for one 100% support his comments, there are many people out there falsely claiming benefits, what annoys me is the govt allows them to get away with it, I want to see far more money being inserted in to the DWP fraud department catch the fiddlers, and take not one of the most vocal disabled advocates a women who for many years was unable to work, several days after claiming to be chronicle and seriously ill was able to accept a high paying job in the company she was protesting about,